


what the future holds

by a_summerfall



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 17:04:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 36,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15733719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_summerfall/pseuds/a_summerfall
Summary: Something big is about to happen, and Kara Danvers knows it. She has been having dreams; weird, scary ones that involve her previous home planet. Dreams that, sometimes, even include friends she's just met.But it isn't just that. If coincidence really exists, that's also when she meets a new, strange girl—a raven-haired one with blue eyes.She doesn't know, but her world is about to turn upside down. She will have to rely on her family motto to solve what comes her way—and to find out who that young girl is.





	1. By your side

It looks beautiful.

The moon looks so beautiful, shining in its full brightness in the starry sky. Normally, Lena wouldn’t notice it, wouldn't take some time to stare at it. Especially when being alone because it makes her miss her best friend—the one who always has a dreamy look on her blue eyes every time she so much as glance at the sky; the one who is now miles away from her but calls every single night to talk.

She reaches for her cell phone on the nightstand, smiling at the picture Kara put on her contact details. “Hello?”

“Have you seen the moon?” Kara says as lieu of greeting, her voice as dreamy as ever.

Lena looks at the majestic brightness, stealing all of the stars' beautifulness for one night. “I’m looking at it right now."

“Doesn’t it look beautiful?”

Lena nods, aware Kara can’t really see her. But she caught something in her friend's voice. Not just familiarity because of the countless quiet nights Kara felt comfortable enough to say what was on her mind. Not just the sleepy tone that makes Lena aware of feelings that shouldn’t be there. There is something more. Something big.

“You know, I've learned that, no matter where you are in the world, the moon won't actually be bigger than your thumb.”

She is trying to avoid talking about it. More likely, she is trying to forget whatever is making her sad. It isn’t the first time Kara does it. It won’t even be the last. Bless her, but she always tries to make her problems sound like it’s not a big deal.

It breaks Lena’s heart to think that, but she knows it won’t take long for her friend to say what's bothering her.

And if Kara wants to talk about nothing in the meantime, she'll do so. “Where did you learn that?”

“ _Dear John_ ,” Kara answers with a brighter voice, as if coming back to herself, “which we are definitely watching when I get back.”

“When will that be again?” Lena already knows the answer but asks anyway.

“Late afternoon tomorrow, I guess. I will hang out with Eliza and Alex for a bit before heading back to National City.” Kara seems to take a deep breath then but hesitates a heartbeat to continue. “I really miss you, Lena.”

Lena's heart might beat a little faster with the confession. “You just have to wait another day, darling.”

“That’s just too long.”

Lena opens a smile because she knows Kara is pouting. “You’ve been away from me for almost a week. I think you can handle another day.”

Kara gets quiet again and, when she talks, her voice is even softer, lower, like she doesn't quite expect Lena to hear. "What if I can't?"

It’s the sad tone again.

Lena holds her breath for a second and closes her eyes. She doesn't know how to answer, doesn't know if she's supposed to pretend not hearing what’s been said. She lets the silence stretch for a while, to organize her thoughts, to think of something to say—something that won't necessarily give it away if she heard it or not.

Her voice is as soft as Kara's when she asks, with a small hint of curiosity she can’t hide, "You miss me that much?"

There is another pause, a not so quick one that seems to stretch for an eternity. But Lena patiently waits because she _needs_ to know.

"I do."

It's not like she's ready for it, though. She only hopes Kara can’t hear the soft _oh_ that escapes her mouth or the way her heart misses a beat and then pounds fanatically in her ears. She knows it's a lost cause. "I miss you, too."

"I wish you could be here," Kara says with a sigh like another confession is leaving her mouth. "Or that I could be there."

Lena bites her bottom lip, scared of what might come out of her own mouth.

"I could go over there right now."

Lena does know how fast Kara can come to her, but it seems too risky because Kara sounds too tired to put herself into that physical effort. Besides, Kara doesn't know she knows. "You'll only exhaust yourself, darling. Stay safe where you are. I'll be here tomorrow, same place."

"You promise?" Kara's voice sounds a little too hopeful as if she's afraid something will happen to Lena.

"I promise," she whispers with every reassurance she can gather, though breaking a little with the fear in her best friend's voice. "Did— I'm sorry, I just want to be sure. Did something happen?”

"I— I had a dream."

“Oh, Kar,” Lena whispers, completely aware of how Kara's dreams can get her shaken up after it, for hours or even for days. She's been through a lot, and her dreams don’t even cease to scare her. Of course Lena doesn’t know much because Kara chooses what to share with her—leaving little big details out to hide her Super identity—but she knows how deep that wound is in Kara. So she tries everything she can to bare that lost and pain with her, to be there for whatever Kara needs her to. "What do you need me to do?"

"Could you— I mean— I— I wouldn’t know how to—” Kara sighs. "I'm sorry."

“It’s okay,” Lena whispers softly, frowning a bit. She just caught something in the other end, some noise she doesn’t know how it could be there unless… She shifts and gets to a sitting position in a quick move. “Kar, where are you exactly?"

"If— When I say it, I need you to— Don’t ask me how I got… where I am. Please. Just… not today. I just need you too— I'd like if you'd just hold me.”

The last two words are whispered in such a low voice Lena barely hears it. But after a second to process it, Lena throws the bedsheets aside and says in a low voice, "It's okay, Kar. I'm here for whatever you need." She pauses then before getting up, not sure if Kara already wants her to meet her. “Can I… come to you?”

A hot second of silence, where Lena can actually hear the shaky sigh Kara lets out before answering, “I’m at your balcony. Please… don’t ask.”

“I won't,” Lena reassures, not waiting another second to cross her bedroom. She lets the moonlight guide her steps to her friend, sitting on the cold floor, wearing casual clothes. “We’ll talk about it when you're ready, okay?”

Kara is still with her back to her, getting up slowly as if she is too tired to do it, but Lena sees her nodding. “Thank you, Lena.”

“Anytime,” she tries to open a smile even when the blond turns around and returns it with a pained, broken expression.

“What gave me away?”

Lena looks up to the wind chime in the corner while she clicks the door opened. Kara follows her gaze and narrows her blue eyes to it.

“I don’t know if I like that anymore.”

Lena can’t help a chuckle to escape. She wonders, not for the first time, how Kara does this. How she is still able to be so bright when there is a deep wound inside her chest. Though she much prefers bright-Kara than sad-Kara.

“At least, we'll get to cuddle now,” she jokes; her chest warming with the shy way Kara smiles, almost gratefully. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Kara disconnects the call and reaches for Lena's hand, squeezing gently as if to be sure she is really there. “You're okay.”

It doesn’t sound like a question, but Lena nods anyway. She can’t help but wonder what exactly Kara has dreamed, what exactly has made her flight back to National City—to her—in the middle of the night. Was she… in there?

“You’re okay,” Kara whispers again, the relieved expression fading to a broken one. And it breaks Lena's heart when sad blue eyes look into hers, searching. “You're okay?”

“I am,” Lena cups her face, thumbs caressing her cheeks, drying every tear that falls. “I am. I promise. I'm okay. I'm safe.”

Kara bites her bottom lip and reaches forward to hug Lena. She hides her face in the brunette's neck, sobbing so hard her whole body shakes violently, which causes both of them to hug each other tighter.

Lena strokes blond hair in the way she knows will help her friend to get calmer and to feel safer. She whispers reassurances in her ear, in a low voice so it won’t startle her. Eventually, it calms Kara down enough so she isn’t shaking anymore, but they stay just like that a couple of minutes longer.

“Do you want to lie down?” Lena asks gently, putting a strand of blond hair behind her ear. She waits until Kara herself is ready to pull away after nodding, noticing how her friend keeps her eyes closed to welcome, with a soft sigh, the kiss pressed on her forehead. “Come on.”

Lena closes the balcony door and guides them both back to her bedroom, not for a second stopping to run her thumb on the back of Kara's hand.

“Will you stay with me?” Kara asks in such a low voice as she lies down under the covers that Lena almost misses it.

She offers her a glass of water and a smile. “I won’t leave your side unless you want me to.”

Kara looks at her for a moment before opening a smile, gratefully but still weaker than usual. She drinks half of the liquid and returns the glass to Lena with a soft, “Thank you.”

They settle under the covers, reaching for each other in a coordinated movement, fitting together like they are used to. Their bodies are so close, they are actually able to feel each other's every breath and heartbeat.

“Rest,” Lena whispers, touching her chin in the top of Kara's head. “I’ll be right here if you need me. I won’t go anywhere.”

Kara nuzzles closer and, even though she looks exhausted, it takes her a while to fully relax and drift to a quiet sleep. Lena herself stays up for a much longer time, wondering nonstop what could leave Kara this way. She can’t even help tense a little bit every time Kara shifts, worried that it might be another dream. Thankfully, the night only gets quieter and calmer; the bedroom surrounded just by the sound of their breaths until…

“Lena?” Kara's voice comes quiet, hesitant.

Lena sleepily opens her eyes to meet blue ones, confused with the soft sunlight getting inside her bedroom. When did she fall asleep? When did Kara untangled herself from Lena's arms and tangled Lena in hers?

“Sorry,” Kara says with a smile, gently taking a raven strand in her fingers to pull it away from Lena's face. “You look so cute sleeping and I didn’t want to wake you up but I also couldn’t leave without telling you.”

Lena blinks, begging her brain to wake up quickly. “You leaving?”

Kara nods, “I have to. Alex… doesn’t know I came here. If she wakes up and doesn’t find me, she'll get worried. Probably will want to kill me once she's sure I'm okay. But I— I'm not—” Kara shifts, her knee getting between Lena's legs with the movement, which definitely makes Lena's brain more awake. “I promise I'm not trying to avoid our conversation. I'll be officially back late afternoon and we can talk if you want.”

Lena nods, opening a smile to calm Kara down but failing miserably to calm herself down because she _can’t think_ with blue eyes so close to hers. “Okay.”

“So, dinner? My place? I'll cook for you.”

“I'll bring dessert.”

“Alright. I'll text you later,” Kara kisses her cheek and starts to move away, but Lena holds her wrist to stop her. They just… look at each other for a moment, not moving, not breathing, waiting for something they aren’t sure what it is. But Kara needs to go, so they can’t let the minutes stretch for too long. “You should go back to sleep. It's still pretty early.”

“We both know I won’t,” Lena whispers, looking at their hands, watching as Kara holds it gently. “I just want to ask how you're feeling.”

“I’m—” Kara leans back on the pillow, eyes on the ceiling as if thinking. “I’m okay now. I’m still a little anxious, but it really helped to be with you after... what I dreamed.”

“If you need anything…”

Kara nods and moves her head to face Lena, “I know. I’m sorry for showing up the way I did, by the way. I didn’t know where else to go. I don’t know if there was another place I could've gone but… I felt better being here, close to you. It— It really helped.”

Lena opens a fond smile, which Kara returns with one of her own, though it seems different. Like it's leaving something unspoken. Something Lena doesn’t know how to describe but that makes her heart pound in her chest. “I wish you could stay longer,” she confesses in a whisper, half hoping Kara doesn’t hear.

But of course she does.

She _always_ does.

And Lena can't do much other than hold her breath when Kara gets closer and softly presses their foreheads together. “I'll leave wanting to come right back to you.”

Lena closes her eyes and exhales slowly. She won't answer; she won't trust her voice to speak.

“I promise I'll come back,” Kara continues to utter, brushing her lips very slightly in the corner of Lena's mouth. Her heartbeat goes crazy then, and Kara must know it because she strokes Lena's hand, still on hers. “I really should get going.”

Lena nods, “Okay.”

“And _you_ should sleep for another hour or two.”

“I’ll try.”

She feels Kara smiling when saying, “I’ll see myself out then.”

“Be careful.”

“Always.”

There is a soft squeeze on her hand before Kara moves away, her presence already terribly missed. Lena stays in bed, staring at the spot beside her. Only an hour later she sees the text Kara's sent seconds after leaving.

**[Kara]: Thank you for everything, Lena. I don’t know if you know how amazing you are but I really appreciate having you in my life.**

A warmth spreads in her chest, bringing with it a tingling sensation to her fingertips. It might also leave her with a smile playing on her lips for the rest of the day.

 

//

 

“There you are.”

Kara looks over her shoulder to find her sister climbing the roof to get to her. There is a look of concern on her face, but she seems to be trying to hide it. It's a thing she does when giving Kara space, when not sure if bringing the subject up will be a good idea.

She'll likely test the waters first.

“You’ve been here for almost two hours,” Alex says, sitting beside Kara, leaving their arms brushing in a comforting touch. “Lost track of time?”

“I guess so,” Kara smiles at her apologetically, though her gaze goes back to watch the birds in a nearby tree. She came back from Lena's just in time to leave Alex unaware of her leaving—I mean, _barely_. Alex had just started knocking on her door for their morning run and for _a second_ didn’t catch Kara tripping over her steps to get away from the window. That would have been terribly suspicious.

“So, what are we thinking about on this beautiful day? Before you say, I’d like to point out that we have the perfect background sound for it.” Alex nudges their shoulders together and lifts both eyebrows to give the moment a dramatic taste before adding, “Birds singing.”

Kara can’t hold the laugh that comes out of her mouth, her shoulders shaking a bit. She knew they would have this conversation sooner or later but didn’t know how to bring it up. Alex must have noticed it, which Kara feels tremendously grateful for. Her sister always makes an extra effort to help Kara speak her mind, making everything a bit easier, and Kara appreciates it more than she can put in words.

“I do like the sound of birds singing,” Kara agrees, hugging her knees and resting her chin on them. “It gets louder in mornings like this and… it helps me breathe when I'm feeling a bit anxious.”

“Yeah, I get it.” Alex’s voice is as calm as any day in Midvale can be. She doesn’t rush or press her sister to get to the point and tell what's bothering her. She lets her take her time to talk when ready for it. “Sometimes I miss here because of that. It’s a good place to recharge, though.”

“Sometimes Midvale reminds me of… Krypton.”

Alex rubs her back in a comforting touch, hesitating a bit before asking in a gentle way, “Did you have another dream?”

Kara nods and closes her eyes to avoid the tears. She searches for the sound of Lena's heartbeat across the city, concentrating on its strong though calm rhythm as a reassurance she's okay. “Sorry. It's… still fresh on my mind.”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me.”

Kara leans to the side to rest her head on her sister's shoulder, who starts to rub her left arm. “Sometimes everything seems to merge together.”

“What do you mean?”

Kara takes a moment to answer, not wanting to share too much. There are things even she doesn't understand yet. “People in my life now show up in my dreams from what happened before. Sometimes I can’t do anything besides watch them... die.”

Alex hugs her tighter. Words won't make Kara any better but being beside her, making her see that everything is okay, that her dreams aren't real, help a lot. They silently watch a bird land near them, staying for a few minutes, then singing a soft note before flying away. There is something Kara sees during that short visit that Alex doesn't.

“I'm afraid I won’t be able to protect us.” The confession comes in a rush, broken, barely audible, but takes an enormous weight from Kara's shoulders.

“Why do you say that?” Alex sounds shocking and she pulls away when her little sister doesn’t answer. “Did something happen? Are you feeling anything different? Do want to—"

“I’m fine,” Kara makes sure to look into her sister's eyes to reassure her. “Physically, I'm as perfect as I could ever be. I just— I heard something yesterday before going to sleep.”

Alex frowns. “What something?”

“I'm not sure because I went to look for it but couldn’t find it anywhere. It was like… It was similar to someone flying. It wasn’t close to here but I heard it.” Kara puts her hand on Alex's forearm to add before her sister complains, “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think it was dangerous. It turned out being nothing after all but… I don’t know, it felt like a warning.”

“A warning?”

Kara retreats her hand and fidgets with it, her gaze avoiding Alex's. “I was back in the Phantom Zone in my dream. I— Everything was relatively calm until I saw… some of you, trying to rescue me. It wasn’t nice. I—" Her voice breaks a tiny fraction. "Sorry. I’m trying not to remember the details.”

“It’s okay,” Alex whispers, reaching for her sister's hand. “You don’t have to tell me.”

“It’s just…” Kara presses her lips together, thinking, her gaze still on her hands. “I feel like something bad is about to happen and I— I don’t know if I'll know how to deal with it, how to be strong to protect us.”

Alex reaches forward with her free hand to put a golden strand behind her sister's ear. “Don’t forget you're not alone, Kara. All of us, the DEO, the NCPD, Lena, James, Barry and all your superfriends… We all work together to solve whatever comes in our direction. We are always there for each other, no matter what.”

Kara opens a weak smile, “ _El-mayarah_.”

“Yeah, _el-mayarah_. You don’t have to save us all the time, Kara. We can take turns, so you won’t need to carry so much on your shoulders.”

Kara nods, trying to make the words sink in. It is hard for her to be this open about her insecurities, to speak about her fears. She is used to save people. She isn’t used to let herself be saved.

It takes long minutes for Alex to say something else, giving Kara time to think, to understand her words. She only speaks when her little sister squeezes her hand gently, an unspoken way to thank her. “What would you say if I call you to go get some ice cream?"

Kara opens a smile and look up at her, “I would say you’re incredible.”

“Yeah, thought so,” Alex laughs, then her expression turns to something more softer. “I meant what I said, though. And I'll talk to Winn so he can take a look on what you said, just to make sure.”

“Thank you.”

Alex squeezes her hand and gets up, pulling Kara with her. “Let’s go before your favorite, weird flavor runs out.”

“Oh, please,” Kara scoffs, feeling even lighter than before. She spares a second to thank Rao for every person she has in her life that makes an effort to make her feel better when her world seems to shatter. “I know you're going to take a bite of my perfect mint and chocolate chips deliciousness.”

“Not with those peanuts, though.”

Kara gasps, “It's the best part!”

Alex rolls her eyes, though there is still a fond touch to it. They smile at each other in understanding before heading to one of their favorite ice cream's little business near the beach.

 

//

 

It's already around eleven o'clock when they leave Misses Santiago's Ice Creams, making sure to take some of Eliza's favorite flavors—properly packed, by the way—before heading to a small fair in the pier. There are some beautiful artistic items for sale, so different from one to another yet so… Midvale. It's like when you travel to a new city and find very characteristic items in a little souvenir store or, in this case, a fair.

They walk with no intention to buy anything, but Kara finds a very beautiful necklace, with an even more beautiful gem that reminds her of a particular someone. “Hey, do you think Lena would like this?”

Alex looks at it and nods, making a mocking face of approval. “You can tell her this gem reminds you of her eyes, and she might even wear it.”

“Alex!” Kara groans, retreating her hand from the piece as if it might show all her feelings. “It’s not like that. We're just friends.”

“I didn’t say you aren’t,” Alex shrugs and reaches for another necklace with no particular interest. “But don’t try to pretend you didn’t remember her eyes when you catch a sight of it.”

Kara certainly can’t because the gem’s color is really similar to Lena's emerald eyes. “I don’t know if it's her style, though.”

“She’ll wear it every single day of her life.”

Kara looks back at Alex, who seems now very uninterestedly looking at a sunflower painting. “Do you really think so?”

“Think what?”

“That Lena will use it every day.”

Alex meets her gaze and frowns. “You’re making me doubt you're just friends.”

“What?” Kara exclaims and matches her sister's confused expression. “You just said it.”

“No, I didn’t,” Alex says calmly, narrowing her eyes for a second, then lowers her voice to a whisper. “Haven’t you just tuned in on someone else's chat?”

Kara blushes just a tiny bit and turns back to the necklace, murmuring, “Right, forget it.”

“Sorry,” Alex laughs softly. “I think it's beautiful, though. You should take it.”

Kara gives the piece to the woman watching their interaction with a motherly smile. “Do you want me to wrap it?”

“Yes, please.” Kara looks around while she waits, pretending she doesn’t see Alex pressing her lips to hold back a smile. She thanks the woman and steps back to leave, _barely_ turning around and _already_ bumping into a girl passing by. “Oh, sorry.”

The girl holds her arm to steady herself, her wide blue eyes meeting Kara's with a panicked look. She looks slightly familiar, but she's far too young for Kara to know her from the time she lived there.

“Do I know you?” she asks anyway.

“Hmm,” The girl retreats her hand as if afraid she’ll burn with the touch. “I— I don’t think so.”

“Well, sorry again,” Kara says with an apologetic smile. She can’t help but watch as the girl moves quickly away, tugging her raven hair behind her ears. “Doesn’t she look like Lena?”

“I’d like to say you're forcing it,” Alex jokes, though her voice sounds uncertain, “but she definitely does.”

“It's probably just a coincidence.” Kara tries not to notice how the girl's touch lingers in her arm. “She’s too young to be related to her.”

“Yeah…” Alex gets quiet for a moment. Kara feels her gaze, but she doesn’t see anything different in her expression when turning around. “Let’s head back. I still have some stuff to pack before we go back to National City.”

Kara has a feeling Alex is hiding something from her but doesn’t touch the subject. Instead, she throws another look in the direction the girl went before following her sister, _knowing_ this won’t be the first nor the last time seeing that girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! :)
> 
> Let me know what you think.


	2. I would never leave you

And it really isn’t.

Kara does see her again. Just once but it’s already enough. Enough to concentrate on her heartbeat, _to really listen_ , and to save it to the memory.

Kara does it because she wants to be able to find her, to help, if needed. She feels connected to that girl—a kind of connection she had never felt with anyone before. It's as simple as wanting to protect her, as wanting to be there for her.

Especially because she seems a bit lonely sitting on the rooftop, five blocks away from Eliza’s house, writing in a notebook. She is so lost in thoughts, so concentrated… and so like Lena.

It's scary how much she looks like her best friend—which is probably the reason to why Kara is almost desperate to go talk to her, to get to know her.

What could she say, though? _“Oh, you look so much like my friend. Who on Earth are you?”_

She can’t do that.

Besides, Alex isn’t really comfortable with any of this. If her reaction upon meeting that girl is anything to go by, she's also worried about what that might mean.

And Kara has a feeling. She hopes she isn’t right but, deep in her chest, she actually believes all of this is somehow connected.

And she is scared.

She is so scared.

“You ready?”

Kara turns around to find Alex and Eliza on the front steps, smiling fondly at her. She knows they've been talking about something important, all rushed tones not meant for her to hear, which she didn’t, no matter how curious she was.

“Yeah,” she answers, smiling back at them.

Eliza comes toward her, arms opened to offer a warm goodbye hug. “Be careful, honey. If you need anything, I'm just a phone call away.”

Kara nods and squeezes her foster mother tightly. Eliza has such a calm, motherly way about her that _almost_ makes Kara want to stay and never go back to National City. But, as much as she loves Midvale, she could never. Not without her loved ones close by. Not without her friends… Well, one special friend. “Thank you, Eliza. It means a lot to me.”

“Come visit whenever you want. You're always welcome here.”

Kara nods again and kisses her cheek before pulling away to go to Alex's car, who is already picking a playlist for their trip. She presses play and leaves it in a low volume so they are still able to talk.

“Ready?” Alex asks.

“Yeah.”

“Oh, wait,” Eliza shows up beside Kara's opened window and leans on it to look at her. “Forgot to mention. You can bring that friend of yours next time. The brunette one.”

“Lena?”

“That's the one.”

Kara blushes a tiny bit and tries to hide it by adjusting her glasses, but fails when feeling Alex's eyes on her, intend, teasing. “Okay, I'll see what I can do. Can Alex bring Maggie as well?”

“Of course!” Eliza winks at her birth daughter, smiling. “I already told her that.”

“Nice try,” Alex whispers, knowing her sister asked that to try and make her embarrassed. “Bye, mom. See you!”

“Let me know when you arrive!”

Kara watches, with an uneasy feeling, as Eliza waves at them and gets further and further away. She once again searches for the girl to take another look at her but she is already gone.

 _Visibly_ gone. After all, Kara can still hear her soft heartbeat close by.

“You okay?” Alex asks gently, tapping along with the music while driving away.

“Yeah,” Kara looks at her and opens a genuine smile. “Just thinking how lucky I am to have you all in my life. You take care of me when I don’t know how to take care of myself.”

Alex looks at her, brown eyes full of sisterly love. “That’s what family are for.”

Kara reaches forward to give her sister's shoulder a gentle squeeze before looking ahead and starting to sing.

 

//

 

When they arrive back in National City, both Danvers’ sisters go up to Kara’s apartment. Alex is texting someone on her phone, probably Maggie, but there is a concerned expression on her face. It clearly tells the blond they are about to have an important conversation.

"What are your plans for tonight?”

_Hmm, or not?_

“Oh, I’m—” Kara clicks her front door opened, nervously getting inside. She knows her sister will tease her when she says it, just like it happened when she bought that necklace. “Hmm, I'm having dinner with Lena.”

Her sentence comes out like a question.

Alex smiles at her, this time not actually teasing. “Not sure yet?”

“No, I _am_ sure. We’re having dinner tonight.” Kara opens her fridge to take two bottles of water for them, but Alex refuses it, saying she is already leaving. “Why do you ask? Need help with something?”

“No,” Alex shakes her head and sighs before putting her phone in her back pocket. “I’m heading to the DEO to talk to Winn. Make him work on that thing you mentioned.”

“Okay,” Kara leans on her counter, playing with her bottle of water, not quite opening it. “If you find anything, tell me?”

“Of course.” Alex's tone is soft but she is still hiding something from her younger sister. It was clear in the way she mentioned Winn's name. They're probably already working on something by now, something Kara isn’t yet included in. “I have to go. Have fun with Lena tonight.”

She is seconds from closing the door when Kara calls her name, shifting in place before facing her sister. She decides not to mention her insecurities yet because she knows, deep down, that Alex is trying to protect her. So she says the second thing she wants to, “Thank you for today. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Alex winks at her before leaving and closing the door.

Kara stays in that position for a while, looking and playing with her plastic bottle. She tries not to think about her dream, about that girl, but being alone makes it hard not to. Even finding other things to do, such as unpack her bag or doing grocery shopping, isn’t distraction enough.

She just doesn’t want to be alone.

So she ends up reaching for her phone on the counter to text the only person she wants to.

**[Kara]: Still working?**

She doesn’t actually expect Lena to answer so quickly, but she does. And her answer is everything Kara needs.

**[Lena]: I'm actually heading your way.**

**[Kara]: Have I already told you how amazing you are?**

**[Lena]: I might need a reminder.**

**[Lena]: I also might have your favorite dessert with me, though I know you already ate it this morning.**

Kara smiles widely, heart beating a bit faster. She is aware Lena is referring to the pictures she _might_ have sent her way when at Misses Santiago's Ice Creams.

**[Kara]: I need to take you there sometime.**

**[Kara]: And I might already have a way for you to never forget how special you are to me.**

The necklace.

Kara sends the text and looks at the small, wrapped package on her coffee table, right beside a bouquet of plumerias.

She can’t help but think of this morning, of Lena's beautiful face when sleeping—which she has already seen a couple of times, though… Though it felt different.

Different because she remembers how Lena's heartbeat was this morning.

Different because she remembers how _her_ heartbeat was this morning.

How it is now.

**[Lena]: Got me curious.**

**[Lena]: I'll be there in ten.**

Kara is aware of Lena's feelings, though not completely sure. She has no idea if Lena is aware of hers.

**[Kara]: Come in when you arrive. I'll be making dinner.**

Kara takes a few deep breaths to calm herself. She is a bit nervous to see Lena again because she wants… She wants to be back in her arms. She wants to touch her, to breathe in her scent, to—

“Focus, Kara.”

She shakes her head and starts to make their dinner—a secret recipe she had to beg Eliza to teach her how to do it. She forces herself to concentrate on her task and she's so lost in it that she doesn’t notice when Lena knocks on her door, _exactly_ ten minutes later.

“Kar?” she walks in slowly, hesitantly.

Kara closes the oven and almost trips over her steps when she sees her best friend because she is just... She is just so beautiful.

Her raven hair is loose in that way that makes Kara's heart race, with soft curls at the end of it; her lips are painted with that characteristic red lipstick; and she is wearing casual clothes, jeans and a blue blouse.

It's like she is wearing Supergirl's colors.

And, obviously, the first thing Kara says is, “You look stunning.”

Lena blushes a little, a shy smile playing on her lips. “Well, thank you.”

Kara approaches a bit hesitantly, matching Lena’s smile with a touch of nervousness. “How was your day?”

“Full of boring meetings.” Lena's smile turns fond when Kara offers her a hand, gently stepping into her space to hug her best friend. “How are you?”

Kara doesn’t answer right away because she is lost on the feeling of Lena's arms. “I’m fine. Better now.”

“I’m glad you’re back,” Lena says in a low voice; her chin on Kara's shoulders, her lips on Kara's ear. “I missed you.”

Kara closes her eyes because, oh Rao, what is Lena _doing_ to her heart? “I missed you, too.”

“I bought something for you.”

“Besides my favorite dessert?” Kara pulls away, noticing her friend only lets go when she does. It is a heartwarming little gesture that means a lot to her.

“It’s kind of another dessert, actually,” Lena reaches for a bag she left beside the door when coming in. She takes out Kara's favorite ice cream and a little box, which she hands all to the blond. “It’s a new doughnut from that place you like so much.”

Kara opens the box and reaches forward to take a bite, but Lena playfully, gently, slaps her hand. “What? I can’t eat?”

“Not before dinner.”

Kara pouts, “Not even a small bite?”

“No!” Lena laughs, squeezing Kara's arm playfully. “Do not make that face. I promise it'll be worth the wait.”

Kara gasps, “You already ate it?”

Lena nods and presses her lips together to stop a smile, “How else would I know it was worth sharing with you?”

Kara narrows her eyes to Lena, though ends up smiling and nudging their shoulders together. “I have something for you, too.”

“You do?”

Kara nods and puts their desserts in their proper places—one in the freezer, the other strategically on the table—before offering a hand to her friend, who takes it instantly. Kara bites her lip nervously as she gives Lena the wrapped package. “It’s simple but I thought you might like it.”

Lena smiles at her and unwraps the present, expression turning to surprise when the necklace is visibly there. “Oh, Kar,” she reaches carefully to touch the emerald gem.

“What do you think?”

Green eyes look up at her, and she opens a breathtaking smile. “It’s beautiful. I loved it.”

Kara relaxes a bit with her answer, though she fidgets with her hands, waiting a minute to ask, “May I?”

Lena nods and hands it to Kara, their fingers slightly brushing. Thankfully, the brunette doesn’t notice that hers are shaking a little bit. I mean, it shakes quite a lot because it takes her a moment to put the necklace in place.

“Is it a good reminder of how special you are to me?” Kara asks, whispering, touching her friend's waist when she's done.

“It is,” Lena says with a thoughtful, barely audible voice. “Thank you, Kar. I’ll wear it every single day.”

Kara holds her breath, mouth slightly opened in surprise. Did she just say— _Oh, Rao._

Kara bites her bottom lip, completely unable to _stare_ as soon as Lena is facing her again. And she blushes, furiously, because that little piece is calling her attention to a part of her friend's body she _shouldn’t_ be staring at.

“It matches my eyes, doesn’t it?” Lena asks, still looking at the pendant touching _just_ above her breasts.

“That’s why I bought it.”

Their eyes meet and there is a moment in there, a feeling. It's the same one that constantly finds its way to them, that constantly makes them aware of things—of feelings—that usually don’t exist between friends.

And that makes Kara think: are they just friends?

Does Lena want this?

Should she try and find out?

“Kar?” Lena calls softly, stepping closer, touching Kara’s arms, which are properly wrapped around her waist. There is a question in her green eyes; a question that is answered when Kara lets her eyes flick down to her mouth… and Lena's heart picks up with it. “Are you sure?”

Kara is only able to nod and, then, she is closing her eyes because Lena is getting closer and touching their foreheads together.

“Your heart is beating really fast.”

The blond exhales slowly, parting her lips to lick them. “It’s usually what you do to me.”

“Is it?” Lena's hands move up to her shoulders, drifting up to the back of her neck. She has done this countless times before but it feels different. More intimate, more… meaningful. “You do the same to me.”

Kara opens a smile because she knows it. In fact, she can even hear it right now. The way that Lena's heart pounds rhythmically in her chest, missing a beat when she brushes a finger on her hip bone. Due to their proximity, she can even feel the way her friend inhales sharply. “Can I kiss you?”

Lena doesn’t answer verbally, but her heart does. There is such a soft, subtle beat in her chest, whispering, _“Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me,”_ over and over and over again.

And Kara does.

Kara really does.

“But we are still having dinner after this,” she says with a smile, loving the way Lena chuckles and gets close enough so their mouths brush.

“I can work with that.”

And, then, her mouth is finally on Kara’s—soft, warm, gentle. Their kiss is slow at first, exploratory, focused on how they feel against one another.

It is like they have all the time of the world, like nothing else matters.

It is like they're home.

And that really doesn’t change when it all gets more intense. If anything, it just makes them more confident, more comfortable to do what they've been wanting to, _waiting_ to.

Kara is the one who, ever so gently, does that switch. She pours every feeling in her in that kiss, which makes her press a little harder on Lena, which makes Lena gasp for air and moan softly in her mouth. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Lena takes a step back, a bit unsteady, making the blond keep her hands on her waist for safety. “That was… out of this world.”

Kara laughs, blushing a tiny bit. “Pun intended?”

“Maybe,” Lena smiles, biting the corner of her bottom lip distractedly. “I mean it, though.”

Kara notices, then, her smudged lipstick and she can’t really control herself to reach forward, to catch those lips back again on hers. She follows when Lena takes another step back, guiding them to the couch, gently lying down on it… and everything changes once again because Kara shifts above her and ends up with her leg between Lena's.

They look into each other’s eyes, breathing hard, heartbeat crazy. Kara doesn’t know how long they stay like that, just looking at each other, until Lena caresses her cheek with a thumb. “Are we moving too fast?”

“I don’t know,” Kara whispers honestly. “I just know that we still have some stuff to talk about.”

Lena agrees, nodding. “We do.”

“We can continue it after dinner if you want.” Kara caresses her hip bone, actually touching it under Lena's clothes. “Or in between our dessert.”

Lena opens a smile and nods. “Okay. I just need a moment to recover.”

Kara nods and gets closer to hide her face on Lena's neck, leaving a soft kiss in there. “Do you mind if I stay here with you?”

“No,” Lena says softly, holding her friend, stroking her blond hair. “I would never mind it.”

Kara nuzzles in her neck gratefully and closes her eyes, thinking, getting lost in this feeling. It kind of feels like when she fell asleep last night; safe in Lena's arms, comfortable enough to open up to her friend. She doesn’t know when that started, but she is grateful for it. So grateful she can’t help but whisper, “I’m really lucky to have you in my life.”

Lena takes a second to react but, when she does, she kisses her temple and hugs her tighter. “ _I_ am the lucky one. I’ve— I've been thinking about this.”

“About what?”

“How lucky I am to have you. You're the only person who cares about me, the only one who never judged me for my last name.”

Kara frowns when she catches a touch of sadness in Lena's voice. “I would never,” she whispers in her ear, soothingly brushing her thumb in her skin. “You are a good person, Lena. One of the best I know.”

“You’re the only one who believes in me.”

“I will always believe in you.” The blond pulls away to look into green eyes, quietly wishing for Lena to believe in her, in her words. She takes a deep breath before continuing, “I guess you already know this, but you were in my dream last night. It was— I thought I had lost you. I woke up and felt like a part of me was taken away. I flew here because I had to make sure you were alive, you were okay.”

Lena cups her face, tears appearing in her eyes. “Kar…”

“I honestly don’t know what I would do if I lose you,” Kara whispers. “You’re too important to me, Lena. I would never leave you.”

Lena's heart misses a beat, and she clearly holds herself to not shed a tear. “How did you know?”

“You have the same expression from that time you told me you have already lost a lot of people.”

Lena closes her eyes and breathes out slowly, “You know me better than anyone else.”

Kara watches her face, remembering everything, _every feeling_ she has felt around Lena, knowing she won’t have another chance to say what she wants to. So she takes a deep breath, which causes Lena to open her eyes. “I love you too much not to.”

And it feels like the world stops.

It feels like she was right after all—something big was indeed about to happen.

And it starts right there with her aunt Astra showing up in her balcony, a piece of a small red cape in hands.

She almost doesn’t wait for Kara to get up to say, “I need your help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello. :)
> 
> Thank you so much for the feedback on the first chapter. It means a lot to me that you enjoyed it.
> 
> I hope you liked this one just as much, so, if you feel like it, let me know your thoughts on it.
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr as well: a-summerfall
> 
> Hope you have a wonderful day/ night. x


	3. A baby's cry

Kara's blue eyes are so bright when she confesses that. They are so open, so clear, Lena doesn’t see anything besides love in them. It makes her heart race, every strong beat accepting her words and wanting to say the same.

Well, she tries to.

She opens a wide smile and caresses her soft cheek, _seconds_ away to say it back when she's interrupted. Interrupted by a woman in a black suit who lands in the balcony and says before any of them can react, “I need your help.”

Lena can feel the way Kara's heart beats faster, can see how her expression turns to fear, can hear her low whisper, “Aunt Astra.”

She understands, then.

She can’t help but remember one quiet night a while ago when Kara told her a part of the story in a whispered voice. She doesn’t know much about what actually happened but she remembers Kara's fond smile when talking about her aunt.

Her aunt who was her mother's twin.

Her aunt that was supposedly dead but who looks very much alive right now.

“Hello, little one.”

Kara slowly gets up to a sitting position, offering a hand to help Lena as well, holding it tight and not letting go. Her growing fear is so very visible that Lena gently brushes a thumb in her skin in, what she hopes, is a comforting touch.

“I apologize for showing up like this,” Astra says in a calming voice, watching them with such a clear emotion in her eyes that it makes Lena a little bit shy. “I assume you have a lot of questions as to how I'm here and perhaps I'm able to answer it with one simple explanation.”

Kara looks at her for a second without doing anything, then she nods slowly, waiting.

“I'm not exactly your aunt from here,” Astra begins, holding a small red piece close to her heart as if to gather a bit of courage. “I’m actually from another multiverse and I— I shouldn’t be here. I was supposed to meet you all fifteen years from now.”

Lena feels herself stopping breathing, Kara most likely doing the same if her sudden quietness is anything to go by. This is just too much to follow in such a short amount of time, too much information given in such a calm voice.

“I apologize for saying it so fast,” Astra says, indeed looking like that.

“You’re from the future,” Kara murmurs, shock clear in her voice. She leans closer to Lena, her free hand running through her hair as if she doesn’t quite believe what she’s just heard. “Why are you here? You said you need my help.”

“I do. I—”

It is right then that Maggie not so subtly knocks on the door and opens it slowly, raising her eyebrows to the scene that welcomes her. “Sorry to interrupt, guys.”

Her girlfriend comes right behind and, when she enters and sees everyone there, she stops in place, completely frozen. Her broken expression matches Kara's so deeply that it is clear Astra's presence brings back a lot of memories to the Danvers' sisters. Perhaps not good ones.

“It’s okay,” Kara says softly, such deep fondness in her voice that it warms even Lena's heart. It's like Alex blames herself for something that happened, and Lena can’t help but wonder if it has something to do with the accident that took Astra's life. “It’s okay.”

Alex nods and opens a weak but grateful smile. She even lets herself lean a bit closer to Maggie, who wraps a comforting arm around her waist.

“Kara?” Astra calls gently, not really looking like she wants to interrupt such a moment. But everyone is with eyes on her now. “Sorry. I just— I really need your help, little one.”

“Won’t it mess up with the future?”

Astra shakes her head, “I’m not the one trying to mess it up. I'm trying to keep it the way it's supposed to.”

Wait, what?

“You mean that there is someone else from the future here?” Lena asks, not really able to hide her surprise. She can’t help but feel a bit left out when it looks like everyone already knows the answer. “Oh, I see.”

“Wait,” Kara whispers, meeting her gaze, begging her not to jump into conclusions with the soft squeeze she gives her hand. “I— I met a girl this morning in Midvale, and she— I’m scared of what this might mean but she— She kind of looks like us.”

Lena just stares into her blue eyes, not really sure if she heard right. She can’t be trying to say that they might have…

Oh, can she?

If they have…

Oh. This is really _a lot_ to follow.

“I'm not sure if what I'm thinking is true but I—” Kara takes a deep breath; a sad expression on her face as if she is afraid. “I’m scared of what this might to do us. I don’t want it to scare you away from me.”

“It won’t,” Lena whispers, holding her hand tighter, touched by her words. She hesitantly reaches to caress her hair with her free hand, relaxing when Kara closes her eyes for a second with the gesture. “It won’t. I promise.”

Kara leans in even closer to her, almost resting her head on Lena's shoulder. She doesn’t even pull away when Astra says in confusion, “Wait. You mean El? She's here?”

“El?” Alex asks in a thoughtful tone as if she's trying to call attention to herself and give them a moment to process what is happening. “If we’re talking about the same person, you didn’t know that?”

Astra looks scared as she shakes her head, “No, I didn’t.”

“But all this is about her, isn’t it?”

Astra takes a moment to answer and, when she does, her voice is very low, very serious. It's like she's trying not to remember something. “It is. But she shouldn’t be here.”

“Why?”

“Because—” Astra sighs, taking a moment to think; probably about the consequences her next words will have. “Because there is someone… trying to kill her. Someone who is trying to stop her from existing.”

There is a heavy silence in the room.

A silence that makes the _air_ feel heavy, dangerous.

A silence that stretches for a while, waiting for everyone to let those words sink in.

Lena can’t quite do that, though. There is a big fear growing in her chest, telling her, whoever they might be, they could be someone from her family.

How could it not be one of them? They hate Supers. But how could they have such a technology to travel through time? _Why_ would they have it? Thinking about it, it could actually be someone else. Someone they don’t even know yet.

She is so lost in this thought, she barely hears herself asking in fear, “Do you know who?”

Astra shakes her head, looking into her eyes in such a sad way it sends shivers to Lena's spine; in such a sad way it makes Kara get closer to her and hug her tightly.

“Alright,” Alex murmurs, shifting in place, looking a lot like Agent Danvers now. “We should head back to the DEO. We need to take a look in all this.”

“I’ll go with Astra,” Kara says, waiting for Alex to nod before leaning in to whisper in Lena’s ear, “Stay with Alex. I’ll find out who is doing this and bring El safely to us.”

Lena nods, stroking her hair, telling herself this _won’t_ be the last time she does that. It was just a look; it probably doesn’t mean what she thinks it means. “Be careful.”

Kara kisses her jaw, “Always.”

Lena holds her tighter when the blond starts to pull away. Just a second longer, just enough to say, “I love you, too.”

Kara takes a second to pull away but just enough to look into her eyes. They are once again so bright, so blue when looking into green ones. She even has a frown of deep concentration when pressing her lips—softly, gently, quickly—on Lena’s.

“Come back to me,” the brunette whispers, brushing a thumb on her bottom lip to wipe a small stain of her own red lipstick.

“I will,” Kara opens such a beautiful smile Lena can't help but return it with one of her own.

Her heart still beats a little too fast as she watches Kara talking quickly to Alex and Maggie before readying herself to fly up, up and away—her blue suit and red cape contrasting with her aunt’s black one, though a little more colorful with the small red cape around her waist.

Supergirl doesn’t actually leave though, before looking into her eyes once again with a soft promise in her deep ocean blue gaze.

 

//

 

“I need to ask you something,” Kara says while they fly over National City. Half of her concentration is on the young girl’s heartbeat, listening to its strong rhythm, making sure she's okay. She is flying closer to her, as fast as she can, but it feels like the girl is distancing herself, equally fast. “Why were you looking at Lena like that?”

“Like what?”

Kara still feels apprehensive about the look her aunt gave her best friend. It looked like lost, almost like she was seeing a ghost, almost like… “Like you have seen her die.”

Astra is flying right beside her and she looks at Kara with that same sad expression once again. “I can’t tell you that.”

It isn’t the answer she was hoping for.

“Aunt Astra,” Kara begs, taking a shaky breath. “Please. Lena is too important to me. I can’t lose her.”

Astra seems to think about it for a second before saying with a fond expression, “If we find El, we'll be saving her as well.”

Her answer gives Kara even more determination to do what she has to; even more determination to make it right.

“I’m sorry, little one.”

Kara just shakes her head, flying even faster to her… daughter. Her daughter who shouldn’t be here, who should be safe in a few years from now. She is somewhere close to Midvale, but it doesn’t seem like Kara is getting closer to her just yet.

“Supergirl?” Alex's voice comes in her ear, as soft as a way to tell her she's been there, she's been listening. “Sorry. We are here if you need anything.”

Kara closes her eyes for a second to control her emotions, “Is Lena with you?”

It takes a second for an answer to come, but, when it does, Kara can hear her soft heartbeat along with the words, “I’m here.”

“I won’t let it happen,” she whispers it as a promise, both to Lena and to herself. She _will_ save her family, no matter what, no matter who they are.

“I know you'll do what is right,” Lena whispers, a not so well hidden emotion in her voice. It's like she's already accepted whatever will come her way.

“Lena—”

An alarm sounds in the DEO, telling Kara something she already knows even before Winn announces with a touch of apology in his voice, “West part of the city. Something is happening there. It seems like a fire or an explosion or a—” he gasps suddenly. “Oh my God.”

“What is it?” Kara demands, heart racing in anticipation. She can hear everyone's heartbeat racing as well with whatever it is they're able to see. “Winn?”

It is Alex who answers in a shocking voice, so low even _Kara_ has trouble to hear it, “It’s a pod.”

It really is.

Kara can see it among the black smoke rising from it. Thankfully, it is in a desert part of the city, so the destruction isn’t too big apart from the few cracks on the floor.

But… it's a pod. A futuristic pod.

Her heartbeat is so loud in her ears, it is the only thing she is able to hear as her eyes survey the place.

But there is nothing in there.

Nothing but a destroyed pod.

Nothing but flames, burning her entire future before she even has a chance to know it.

“Supergirl? What is it? What is inside?”

Astra lands behind her, so very pale, so very terrified. Her words are everything Kara doesn’t want to hear, “We're too late.”

 

//

 

She doesn’t give up until she has searched _every single_ little space for anything—anything—that will help her understand what really happened.

She's with her hands on her waist, a second away to really give up, when she sees it.

A ring.

An engagement ring with a small but beautiful ruby diamond.

It is so out of place, Kara doesn’t even think twice before taking it, wondering if it is a sign of something.

“Kara?” Astra calls, leaning close to the pod, inspecting inside of it without touching anything. “There is a small camera here. Do you think we could—”

“Take it,” Kara says, her voice sounding a bit too harsh. She takes a deep breath to calm herself as her aunt does exactly what she said. “Sorry.”

Astra dismisses her words with a shake of her head, “I’m the one who should apologize. I failed to do what I came here to.”

“This isn’t your fault, aunt Astra,” Kara whispers weakly. “I know she's still okay. We'll find her.”

Astra nods but she doesn’t really ask how Kara knows that. It seems like she knows it, too. That makes Kara concentrate on it once again, relieved that it is still beating, still strong, though still far away from her.

The rhythm is so soft, so calm, it doesn’t look like she's in danger—which is the only thing that helps Kara calm down.

“Let’s head back,” she says in a low voice, playing with the ring in her hand. It’s something she does until they’re safely at the DEO; until she can see Lena right in front of her. “I’m sorry.”

Lena hugs her tight and whispers comforting words in her ear, just like she did when Kara came to her in the middle of the night. “It’s okay. It's not over yet. We can still find her. I know we will.”

Kara knows she's right.

She _can_ hear the soft heartbeat somewhere in the city, still strong, still beating.

Their daughter is still safe.

“Guys.”

“What would I do without you?” Kara whispers weakly into her neck, enjoying the feeling of the arms around her for a second longer.

When she pulls away, she notices how _everyone_ is busy doing whatever in a respectful distance from them. Alex is actually the first one who meets her gaze, a determinate expression on her face, telling her she hasn’t given up yet.

None of them has.

She meets Winn's soft, fond eyes, nodding to him. He puts a footage in the larger screen for them all to see, not taking long to press play.

While it rolls, Lena keeps a hand on Kara's hair, stroking it gently. No one speaks as they watch the young girl saving whoever is in that pod, clearly flying beside it, trying to open the thing. Her voice is just as Kara remembers when she says with a deep emotion, “I’ll protect you. I'll protect you until they come.”

And, then, there is a low cry.

A baby’s one.

Kara feels relief go through her whole body. “She's safe. She's okay.”

“She looks like me,” Lena whispers, taking a moment to avert her eyes from the screen and meet Kara's. “But she has your beautiful blue eyes.”

Kara opens a smile, blushing a bit, “She does.”

“Wait,” Astra says, taking a step toward the screen as if she can’t really see it. The expression on her face really isn’t what Kara expects, though. She is pale, so very pale even Alex gets closer to her, just in case something happens. But none of them is ready when she says, “This isn’t El. This— This isn’t her. She— Rao. This is not possible. She was just—”

Kara takes a step toward her as well, concerned when Astra lifts both her hands to run them through her hair. She looks so scared it makes Kara get anxious, nervous. “What do you mean, aunt Astra? Who is she?”

Astra opens her mouth to answer, but nothing comes out. She meets Kara's eyes with such a big amount of fear in them that it paralyzes the blond—and she almost isn’t able to move fast enough to hold her when she faints.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello. :)
> 
> First of all, I want to thank you for the support you're giving me. It means a lot, really.
> 
> I also want to thank LenaLuthorChokeMePlease. Thanks to your reaction on the last chapter, I had the idea to make Astra from another multiverse. I think it will make the story even better, so thank you!
> 
> I do hope you all liked it, too. Do let me know your thoughts on it, please. x


	4. The key to everything

Everything is so terribly unexpected, it seems like it happens _too fast_ to know what is really going on.

Lena just knows that, in one moment, everyone is reaching out to help Astra and, in the other, everyone is anxiously waiting for any information about her. It's hard to remember what happened in between these two big moments but she does know it’s been a while since Astra was taken to the medical bay.

And it's been a while since Kara left.

Lena can’t help but go after her, worried because Kara seemed so lost in thoughts it didn’t look like she knew what she was doing. Besides, there is something she's been holding since she came back—something that holds her attention and makes a small crinkle appear on her forehead.

She's playing distractedly with it when Lena finds her, leaning against the wall with her eyes closed. There is such a deep sadness in her that it's impossible not to get closer; impossible not to soften even more when Kara instantly reaches for her and whispers in her neck, “I was waiting for you.”

Lena breathes out slowly, running her fingers in blond hair. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted company.”

“Your heartbeat makes me feel calm,” Kara confesses, holding her even tighter. She is talking in that same sad tone from their call last night. “The closer you are, the louder it gets. And I feel safe when I’m in your arms.”

There is something in Lena's chest; a deep emotion that is making her want to cry. She doesn’t know if it is Kara's words or what has happened so far.

“I would do anything to protect you,” Kara keeps whispering, caressing her lower back. “I’m tired of losing everyone I love. I don’t want to lose you, too.”

“Kar…” Lena bites her bottom lip, her voice breaking, barely able to control it.

“I get terrified every time something happens to you and I’m afraid I won’t be fast enough to be there for you someday.” Kara breathes out, shaking a little. “I just got the chance to hold you like this and now— Now there is someone trying to hurt our family. Someone who has probably hurt you, too.”

She tries—and fails—to hold her tears when Kara pulls away, looking so broken, so defeated as she touches their foreheads together.

“I don’t know what I'm supposed to do.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Lena whispers in a barely audible voice. She frowns and closes her eyes for a moment, noticing how all this feels different now. The way they touch, the way they talk… but it isn’t just because they've kissed. It's something deeper; something that makes her remember Astra's look. “I’m sorry, Kar.”

“It isn’t your fault,” Kara says gently, nuzzling their noses together. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry. I'm just— I don’t know how I'm supposed to live in a world where I can’t listen to your heart, where I can’t look into your eyes, where I can’t feel the softness of your skin.”

It seems like Lena's heart misses a lot of beats while Kara says those words. She can clearly hear the love in them, the amount of care Kara has for her. It's something she had never heard before—something she had never _thought_ she would hear. “I wish I could say that nothing is going to happen, but at least I know we can take care of each other.”

Kara nods slowly, running a finger on Lena's ribs distractedly as if thinking. It takes her a moment to share what is on her mind, though. “I know all this is already a lot to take but I— I found something earlier.”

“Does it have something to do with whatever you're holding since you came back?”

“I didn’t know you noticed that.” Kara opens a smile and retreats one of her hands from Lena's body, showing a ring with a small ruby diamond. “I found it where the pod crashed. I— I didn’t show anyone yet but I think it was the girl who lost it.”

Lena reaches for it carefully, studying it. She almost gasps when she notices that, “It’s an engagement ring.”

Kara nods, biting her bottom lip nervously before revealing, “I think it's yours.”

_Oh._

“So you were the one who proposed?” Lena asks with a small hint of tease in her voice, trying to make the air lighter. “We barely kiss and we already have a daughter. Now, this? What else do you have for me, Miss Danvers?”

Kara stares at her for a second with her mouth opened, then she shakes her head and lets out a low but adorable shy laugh. “You’re unbelievable.”

Lena smiles fondly at her and hands the ring back, which Kara accepts to play with it for a second, thinking back again. Her blue eyes are so soft but with _such_ a meaningful look on them. It's definitely a look Lena has never seen before; not from Kara, not directed to her. “Kar? What is it?”

The blond reaches for her hand, holding it so gently, so carefully, that Lena holds her breath in anticipation. “I— I think you should keep it until we find the girl. I mean, if— if you want to. I don’t want to lose it and… I don’t know. If I keep playing with it like I've been doing, I actually might.”

Lena lets her breath out slowly, nodding, not trusting her voice to speak. With a raced heart, she watches as Kara so very gently puts the ring on her finger, opening such a breathtaking smile Lena needs to bite her bottom lip to stop herself from leaning in and catching Kara's on hers.

“It looks beautiful on you.”

She shifts in place to take a step closer but there is nothing she can do because that's when soft footsteps approach them.

“Hey,” comes Alex's voice from behind her, sounding as tired as she looks. It just comes to Lena how late it probably is; how the night doesn’t feel any closer to an end yet. “Sorry. I just— Maggie told me you headed this way.”

Kara holds Lena's hand as she asks in a low voice, “How is Astra?”

“She’s going to be okay.” Alex crosses her arms over her chest, leaning a bit against the wall. There is something in it that makes Lena get nervous. “She’s just a bit weak. I guess she overtired herself with everything that happened.”

Kara doesn’t seem surprised with the information but she does look relieved. “Can I see her?”

“She actually should rest,” Alex says with a furrowed brow, sighing. “But she asked to talk to both of you. She says it's important.”

Kara meets green eyes, a silent question on them. Still nervous with every passing second, Lena takes a moment to nod her agreement; the blond never ceasing to see her hesitancy. “You don’t have to if you don’t want.”

“No, it's okay.”

They follow Alex back inside, going directly to the room Astra’s at. Lena barely notices how Maggie, Winn, and J'onn are leaning close to a screen, probably working on something that involves that pod or that girl. Perhaps both.

She doesn’t know why she is nervous but, due to it, it takes her a moment to notice Kara's still holding her hand. She caresses the back of it in such a soothing way that it does wonders to calm her raced heart.

“Five minutes,” Alex says as she opens the door for them to get inside.

Astra is lying down on a bed, looking terribly exhausted. She opens her eyes when hearing them, a small smile appearing on her lips. It seems like a lot of effort for her to do those things. “Hello.”

“How are you feeling?” Kara asks as she approaches the bed, taking Lena with her, never stopping the soothing caress in her skin.

“Very tired, but I'm going to be okay,” she takes a deep breath and meets Lena's eyes, looking fondly at her. “I apologize if I've been acting weird around you. You became a good friend of mine and after what happened… It's just really nice to see you again and to see how happy my niece is with you. I hope we'll be able to make everything right again.”

Lena doesn’t know how she's supposed to react, but, after a second, she feels herself getting closer to reach for Astra's hand, who squeezes it weakly.

“We certainly will,” Kara says, an affectionate smile on her lips as she looks at both of them.

“Family is everything, isn’t it?” Astra matches Kara's smile, her thumb touching Lena's recently acquired ring. She doesn’t comment on it but there is a new, determinate light on her eyes. “Do you know where she is?”

Kara shakes her head, the air in the room getting more serious, “I can hear her heartbeat, though. I didn’t go after her because I— I was waiting to talk to you. I don’t know what I should do next.”

“Find her,” Astra whispers. “She’s the key to everything. The only one who can explain what really happened. Well, what is going to if we don’t stop whoever is after El.”

“That baby in the pod was her, wasn’t it?” Lena asks, noticing how Astra is still holding her hand. Surprisingly, it isn’t weird. It's comforting, actually. “Which means that other girl is her sister.”

Astra has a soft expression on her face as she nods. “The younger one, Lyra. It's strange to see her acting like the older one. But Lyra has always loved El. They're quite inseparable if I'm being honest.”

“They seem to be amazing girls.”

“They are.”

“Thank you for being here, aunt Astra,” Kara whispers, a tear rolling down her cheek. “I don’t even want to imagine what would be happening if you weren’t here to help us.”

Astra just opens a smile and looks somewhere behind them, her expression softening even more with Alex's presence. “Time to rest?”

“I’m sorry,” Alex says with an apologetic smile.

Astra dismisses her words with a shake of her head, “I know you're just trying to make me feel better.”

“God. I wish Kara was like you.”

“Hey!” Kara protests, feigning indignation, smiling when Alex just rolls her eyes playfully.

This is an interaction Lena has always admired on the Danvers’ sisters. A friendly teasing that doesn’t mean anything. It's something she used to have when she was younger, with Lex.

“Anyway, I have something to tell you.” Alex puts her hands on her waist and takes a deep breath. “I might have the girl's exact location. Mom called me a few minutes ago. Lyra is there with her and she wants to talk to you.”

 

//

 

It's around 2 am when they arrive in Midvale.

Just Kara and Lena.

It took them a while to decide that, actually. Alex didn’t quite want to let them go alone but after a brief talk—where Astra was included—they agreed on doing this one more thing for the day.

Or the night.

As a result, Lena's whole body has been protesting, begging her to rest for just a bit. She knows Kara, just beside her, is tired as well, though not as much. “Sometimes I envy your Kryptonian system.”

Kara looks at her, smiling with a touch of nervousness. That's the other thing. Since they landed, Kara has been holding Lena's hand as if her life depends on it—which makes it very clear that she is _so_ very terrified about whatever is going to happen when they enter Eliza's house. “I promise this will be the last thing we'll do today. But I’ll warn you that we'll probably stay here for the night. Eliza just _won’t_ let us leave in this state.”

Lena squeezes her hand, quirking an eyebrow in feigning offense. “What’s that supposed to mean? What state do I look like?”

“You look tired but still very beautiful.”

Lena laughs, noticing the way Kara calms down a bit more. “Nice save.”

“I mean it, though,” she leans in to give her a loving kiss on the cheek, lingering there for a second longer. “You ready?”

Lena nods, smiling reassuringly.

It doesn’t take long for Eliza to open the door when Kara knocks, wearing a lab coat over a set of pajamas. This is actually the first time Lena meets her and it’s shocking how much Kara looks like her adoptive mother. “Hi, girls.”

Kara gasps suddenly, eyes wide in a slight panic. “I just realized you guys have _never_ met before.”

“But I'm sure we heard of each other.” Eliza winks at Kara and smiles at Lena, offering her a hand. “It’s an unexpected way to meet you, but it's a pleasure nonetheless.”

“Likewise,” Lena smiles at her, unable to _not_ notice how Eliza has a nice, calm way about her. She's almost exactly how Lena imagined Kara's adoptive mother would be like. “I’m sorry for showing up so late in your house.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Eliza motions for them to get in, silently closing the door after they're inside. When she talks again, is in a very low voice as if for someone not to hear. “She’s upstairs with the baby girl. They're both okay. Physically, I mean. I just checked them but I— I'm a bit worried about the older one.”

Kara shifts uncomfortably, “Why?”

Eliza crosses her arms and looks at the ceiling as if she can see Lyra. “She has this look on her eyes… It's— It’s an amount of loss and pain I have only seen in one person before.”

There is no need to say who specifically. They already know it.

“She needs you guys now,” Eliza keeps saying. “We haven’t talked much but I have a feeling she'll only talk to you two.”

Kara nods, breathing deeply, leaning a bit closer to Lena, who tries to comfort her as best as she can. “Thank you, Eliza.”

The older woman nods, already moving away, saying she'll be in the kitchen if they need anything. But the other two stay where there are, not moving, not quite breathing.

“Nervous?” Lena asks, whispering in the sudden quiet night.

Kara brushes her thumb on the back of the brunette’s hand, “Who isn’t?”

“We’ll take care of her, of each other.”

“We will,” Kara agrees, meeting her eyes, leaning in to give her another kiss. This time on her forehead. She guides them to their daughters, slowly approaching the bedroom with a soft, warm light on.

They find Lyra sitting on a windowsill, looking outside with a sad expression, so lost in thoughts she doesn’t even notice them. Taking that opportunity to really look at her, Lena notices just _how much_ she looks like her. There is no doubt she is related to Lena. And, when their eyes meet, blue and green, the world seems to slow down for a moment.

Lyra gets up slowly, breathing fast, looking like she doesn’t quite believe her eyes. She puts a hand over her mouth, tears falling quickly one after the other. Lena only hears her whisper, “Mom,” before she runs to her arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise, surprise. :)
> 
> You'll probably get tired of me saying this but I was only able to write this chapter because of you guys.
> 
> Thank you for taking some time to read this short story and to leave such sweet comments that help me keep writing. I'm tremendously grateful for each and every one of you.
> 
> As usual, if you feel like it, let me know your thoughts on this chapter. Also, quick question: what would you say if I'm to write in the young girl's point of view as well?
> 
> Just, you know, for research purposes. ;)


	5. It's okay... I'm here

And it is such a warm hug.

Lyra hugs her close, tight, crying quietly on her shoulder as if it's something she has done countless times. “I missed you.”

There is something in her voice that makes Lena wonder how long her daughter waited to say those words; how long she waited to simply hug her, to simply see her.

“I missed you so much.”

It feels like she wants to say so much more but just can’t. She can’t because of the consequences it will have. But Lena feels it. Lena knows what her daughter is trying to say with that hug—and it breaks her heart in pieces to realize it.

It’s her mother.

Her real one.

It's a deep feeling buried in her chest; it's something she's always wanted to do at least once: to simply be able to hug her mother. Just to have something to remember; just to know how it feels to have a real mother.

She must have told Lyra that; must have told that was the only thing she had wanted when growing up with the Luthors. And, even though she was just a child when it all happened, if she knew she'd lose such an important person, she'd have appreciated each moment with her a bit more.

And Lyra lost her. However that happened, it seems like it has broken her, too.

“It’s okay,” Lena whispers gently, noticing how her daughter relaxes when hugging her just as tightly; when brushing a thumb on her shoulder. “I’m here.”

She looks at Kara when the blond shifts beside her, clenching her hands as if controlling herself not to get closer. There is also such a sad expression on her face that it breaks Lena's heart even more and she doesn’t think twice before offering her a hand, squeezing it gently, bringing Kara closer to hug them as well.

“Everything is going to be okay,” she keeps whispering to both of them as she moves her hand to caress Kara's blond hair, bringing her even closer to gently touch their foreheads together. “We'll make everything right again.”

Kara takes a deep, shaky breath; one of her hands on Lena's lower back, the other just under hers on Lyra's shoulders. She drifts it up and down in a soft way that helps Lyra to calm down a bit more.

I mean, until she says in an even broken voice, “I never thought I would see you guys in the same room again.”

Lena breathes out slowly, not really able to hold back her tears at this point.

She caresses Kara's hair even more lovingly when the blond is the one who answers in a soft but confident voice, “No one will break our family apart.”

It's the voice she uses when talking about something she really believes in; when giving people hope.

“Not anymore. We'll keep El safe and everything is going to be alright.”

She gives them hope when that's the last thing people think about in a difficult moment—and no one doubts it.

Not even Lyra, who nods slowly, sniffing a bit. She doesn’t pull away just yet and neither does them. They stay like that for as long as it takes, comforting each other in their own way. And, even when they do pull away a few minutes later, they're still close to one another to offer a warm presence. “I'm sorry.”

“There's nothing to be sorry for,” Kara says gently, reaching out to put a raven strand behind her daughter’s ear. She has a loving but concerned look on her blue eyes when asking even more gently, “Why didn’t you talk to me when we first met?”

Lyra closes her eyes for a moment, “I couldn’t do that until El was safe. But you also weren’t supposed to catch the sound of my voice in that crowd.”

She adds that last sentence with a soft smile that makes both Kara and Lena open a fond one to her. Lyra blinks then, taking a deep breath as if their reaction makes her remember something.

And her eyes are just _so_ blue, Lena can’t help but say, “You have Kara's eyes.”

“But you look a lot like Lena.”

Lyra's smile gets even wider, happier, “Yeah. I hear that quite a lot, actually. Even from El.”

Kara retreats her hand and tilts her head to the side as if a question just popped up on her mind, “El is shorter for what?”

“Eleanor.”

As if hearing her name, the baby lets out a low cry. She's sleeping on the bed, cushioned among a lot of big pillows to prevent her from falling. But it's quite clear that Lyra would never let that happen. Not with the way she quickly runs to her side to comfort her, to caress her baby’s hand.

She's taking care of her sister as if that is the most important thing she has ever done in her life.

And it's so heartwarming.

“Aunt Astra was right,” Kara whispers in Lena's ear, wrapping both arms around her waist to watch their daughters interacting. “They really are inseparable.”

Lena watches as El's breath calms down again, her little hand wrapping Lyra's forefinger in a weak hold.

“She seems to feel safer when Lyra is close,” Lena whispers just as low, resting her hands on Kara's and intertwining their fingers. “I'm glad they have each other.”

Kara rests her chin on Lena's shoulder, hugging her even tighter. “Does it remind you of Lex?”

Lena nods and leans closer to Kara, heart warming with the way the blond never really lets anything pass; never ceases to catch the small changes in her voice. “He was the only one who really welcomed me in the Luthor family.”

“You miss him?”

“I miss the person he used to be,” Lena answers, closing her eyes when Kara moves her head to kiss her shoulder. “I wish I had known he was my brother all along. Even if it probably wouldn’t have changed anything.”

Kara stays quiet, softening even more. It's like she knows Lena doesn’t need any words to make her feel better. It's like she knows Lena only needs comfort, only needs a hug.

“Mom?”

Lena opens her eyes to find Lyra worriedly looking at her.

“Are you okay?”

Lena opens a weak smile, “Yeah. It's just— It’s beautiful to see you taking care of her.”

“El has always taken care of me,” Lyra says, looking back at her sister with a fond smile. “She was the one who chose my name.”

“Really?”

Lyra shrugs, “Well, that's what she says.”

Lena lets a low chuckle to escape, Kara doing the same behind her—and, with the way Lyra looks happily at them, it's clear she did that on purpose to make them smile. She's such a thoughtful little girl; a trait Lena knows came from Kara.

“We should call it a night,” Kara says in a low voice, shaking her head as if in disbelief. “Do you need anything?”

Lyra shakes her head, “Grandma Eliza already gave me everything I can possibly need.”

“You going to be okay?”

Her daughter opens such a genuine smile, Lena doesn’t even doubt when she says, “With you guys close, I already am.”

 

//

 

Lyra meant it when she said those words but she can’t deny she is a bit apprehensive when both Kara and Lena give her a warm good night hug. She can’t help but think they are going to leave and return back in the morning; can’t help but think they are leaving her behind.

“We’ll be in the next room if you need anything,” Kara says, kissing her temple as if knowing exactly what Lyra is thinking or as if listening to her pounding heart. “We’re not leaving you, little one.”

Lyra hugs her even tighter because that… that is the way Kara calls her in the future. “I love you, _mom_.”

Kara pulls away, searching her face, clearly surprised, clearly taking a moment to process what she just heard. “You speak Kryptonese?”

Lyra nods in a shy way, “You’ve been teaching us, actually. You and mom.”

Kara stares at her, mouth opened in shock. “What— No. No way. Lena speaks it, too?”

She nods again, unable to _not_ match Kara's happy, wide grin.

She almost bounces in place when asking, “Did you hear that, Lee?”

“I did,” Lena answers, matching their smiles as well. “It seems like we're an incredible family.”

Kara nods, pressing her lips together as if to stop the tears that are appearing in her eyes. She kisses Lyra's forehead in such a motherly way, with such an amount of love, that it instantly warms Lyra’s heart. “ _I love you, too._ ”

Lyra has never felt so safe since this all began. It's like she's back home, back where nothing was supposed to happen to break them apart. It's like she's a child again, sleeping beside El, her body relaxing after a long day.

And it all started with that first hug—a hug full of promises that everything is going to be okay.

All they have to do now is to keep El safe.

And Lyra will do that even if it's the last thing she'll ever make.

 

//

 

Kara lets out a relieved sigh as soon as she lies down on the bed. She closes her eyes to listen to El's soft heartbeat, catching every small detail as she sleeps. There is a lot of questions on her mind, but she'll forget them for now.

She changes her attention to Lena's heartbeat a second before the brunette enters the bedroom—and she does catch the soft way it starts to beat faster, louder.

Opening her eyes, she finds her friend chewing on her bottom lip nervously, looking a bit shy in Kara's National City University sweater. “You look beautiful.”

“I've lost count how many times you've said that today,” Lena jokes, hesitantly crossing the bedroom to take Kara's offered hand. She lies down beside her as if it's the first time they're sleeping in the same bed. “You okay?”

Kara brings her close to kiss the top of her head, loving the way Lena's heart sing, loving the way Lena puts a hand above her heart to feel it. “I’m worried about you.”

“Why?”

“You’ve been distracted since we left Lyra,” Kara says softly, running her hand on raven strands. She remembers Lena's distant look as they talked a bit with Eliza, about Lyra and what has happened so far. She was lost in a way Kara hasn’t seen before, and her friend has been trying to hide it. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“It's nothing,” Lena answers, nuzzling into Kara's neck. “I just— A lot of things happened in this last few hours. I still have a few to process.”

“I’m here if you need.”

“I know,” Lena kisses her neck and gets quiet for a moment; so quiet she could've made Kara think she's fallen asleep _only_ if the blond wasn’t intently listening to her heart. And, for that, Kara knows the woman in her arms hasn’t turned off her brain yet. “Lyra is a wonderful girl.”

Kara nods, agreeing.

She catches the soft change in Lena’s voice when saying their daughter’s name, so, it’s clear that, whatever is making Lena lost in thoughts, it involves their younger daughter. But Kara knows her well enough and she's aware it'll take a moment for Lena to confess what exactly is on her mind.

“She looked really sad when we arrived.”

“She's been through a lot.”

Lena traces a finger on Kara’s sweater, barely pressing it, taking another moment to confess that, “I’m afraid she won’t overcome what happened to her.”

Kara frowns with the pain in her voice; hers even softer when asking, “Why do you say that?”

“When she hugged me, I—” Lena presses herself more closely to Kara, making the blond feel the wetness of her silent tears. “I’ve never said that to anyone but… the way she hugged me is exactly like I've always wanted to hug my real mother.”

Kara's heart breaks in a million pieces. She has never known Lena felt like that about her real mother; never thought Lena wanted something so simple but so meaningful.

This is something she understands, something she feels, too. She never knew… never wanted her friend to go through this amount of pain.

“Sometimes, it feels like I didn’t even meet her,” Lena keeps whispering in a broken voice. “I don’t want Lyra to go through that as well.”

_Oh, Rao… protect her, please. Make her believe my words._

“She won’t,” Kara promises in her ear, hugging her so tightly it's hard to know where exactly her body ends and Lena's begins. “She won’t lose you, Lee. _I_ won’t lose you. I won’t let it. I would prefer to leave keeping you safe than to watch any of you go.”

“Don’t say that,” Lena pulls away to look into her eyes, to cup her face. “Don’t you ever say that. There are too many people who need you, Kar.”

“I’m no one if I don’t have the ones I love with me.”

Lena softens with those words; her face showing nothing but love. “I've never had someone who cares about me like you do, and now— Now I just don’t know what to do.”

“We’ll take care of each other,” Kara repeats her own words, wrapping her arms around Lena's waist. “My family is yours now. They know how important you are to me, so you're important to them, too.”

Kara listens to the way Lena’s heart misses a beat with her words but hers also does with the way Lena looks at her. Her green eyes are so beautiful, so green, so opened. It’s obvious that they are on edge of something that neither of them will ever forget.

“You… You sure?”

“I’ve never been so sure in my entire life,” Lena whispers; heart pounding against Kara's. “You'll hate me if I say what I'm about to, but, if anything happens, I want you to remember how much I love you.”

“Lena…”

“I’ve never loved anyone like I love you.” Lena's lips are just inches away from Kara's. “If I come to have two amazing girls with you, my life's been worth it.”

Kara lifts her head to catch Lena’s lip on hers—and she pours her heart in every kiss, every touch, every word that leaves her mouth. Her skin is connecting to Lena's in a way that she never thought possible, in a way that makes her feel… makes her… She doesn’t have a word to explain it but it’s something she had never felt before.

And she hopes Lena is feeling the same—this unknown feeling that does wonderful things to her heart and body.

She concentrates on the way Lena gasps and moans in her mouth; on the way she arches her body into hers; on the way she holds her tighter and tighter and tighter…

“I love you,” Kara whispers in her ear, holding Lena like she won’t ever let go. “I love you even more than I did before. And I won’t let anything happen to you.”

 

//

 

Kara wakes up with the warm sunlight touching her skin. She feels so cozy with Lena's warmth added to it that she almost doesn’t want to get up. But she does pull away just a tiny bit to look at her sleeping face.

Lena is so relaxed, so peaceful, so… beautiful. After what happened last night, it's like Kara is seeing her with new eyes; like she is able to catch new details she hasn’t noticed before. That feels ridiculous but so very true.

She can’t help but smile when Lena sleepily opens her eyes and smiles shyly. “Morning.”

“Morning.” Kara brushes a thumb in her skin, touching under the sweater Lena put back on to sleep. “How did you sleep?”

“Good,” Lena gets closer to nuzzle in her neck. “And you? Did you have any dreams?”

Kara shakes her head. “I do feel like I could've slept for three days, though.”

Lena chuckles; her finger tracing Kara's hip bone in a lazy movement. “What are we going to do today?”

“Get more answers,” Kara whispers, breathing slowly. “We need to talk to Lyra about everything that she knows. Maybe she has an idea of who is after El.”

Lena nods, but they stay in bed for a minute longer before getting up. And, even if they've slept in the same bed countless times before _and_ woken up together as well, Kara can’t deny that all this feels different.

It might be the new way they're able to interact with each other; it might be everything that has happened so far, making them act like a… like a married couple.

Kara's phone buzzes on the nightstand, mercifully taking her attention away from this thought. It's definitely something she'll think about later; when everything is a bit calmer.

**[Alex]: Hey. Everything okay? How did it go with Lyra?**

**[Kara]: Everything's good. We haven’t talked much about the heavier stuff yet. But she's a really good kid. You would love her.**

**[Kara]: How is Astra?**

**[Alex]: Can’t wait to meet the little one.**

**[Alex]: Astra is okay. Just been helping us with some stuff about that pod.**

Kara lets out a sigh of relief. She's been worried about her aunt because seeing her lying down like that, so weak, wasn’t really nice. She was afraid she'd lose her again.

**[Kara]: Get some rest, Alex. Don’t overwork yourself.**

**[Alex]: Alright, mom. But let me know if you need anything.**

“Is everything okay?” Lena asks, looking worriedly at her, sitting just a few inches away in the bed.

“Yeah,” Kara smiles reassuringly. “It’s just Alex asking how is everything.”

“How is your aunt?”

“She’s okay. I guess she was just tired.” Kara moves to get closer to her, closing her eyes when Lena reaches to play with her hair. “I didn’t get the chance to ask but… what did you think about her?”

“She's like an aunt I've never had,” Lena answers, smiling. “I can see how much she cares about us and… I don’t know. She makes me feel part of your family.”

“You are,” Kara says softly. “You’re important to them, too.”

Lena takes a deep breath and nods, heart beating in a warm rhythm. She puts her hair up in a ponytail and puts on the same jeans from yesterday. But, when they're a step away from leaving the bedroom, Kara stops to pull her closer and kiss her slowly though intensely; her heart even missing a beat when she pulls away and Lena tries to follow. “What was that for?”

“An apology for having our dinner interrupted last night.”

“It wasn’t your fault, darling,” Lena closes her eyes, swallowing with difficulty. “You can cook for me some other time.”

Kara kisses her again—this time more gently, waiting for Lena to fully recover—before guiding them to the kitchen, finding Lyra setting the table for their breakfast and Eliza playing with El. The blond almost stops when she sees the baby because, “She has your green eyes.”

As if hearing her voice, El opens such a beautiful baby grin that makes both Kara and Lena melt with it. She even moves excitedly in Eliza's lap, climbing and stretching her little arms towards them as if asking to be held. She looks even more excited when Kara is the one who approaches. “Hey, baby girl.”

“She is beautiful,” Lena whispers, almost too low for Kara to hear. But there is such an emotion in her voice that Kara instantly looks up at her and smiles softly when finding tears in her eyes. “I promise it's happy tears.”

Eliza smiles, “Every parent is like that when meeting their children.”

Lena dries her cheeks with her forefinger, gladly accepting Lyra's hug when the young girl approaches hesitantly. “How are you, honey?”

“Good.”

“She was the one who made breakfast,” Eliza says, winking fondly at the girl. “Didn’t even let me help.”

“I wanted to thank you all for welcoming me like you did,” Lyra says shyly, shrugging a bit. “I made a special breakfast for each one of you.”

She really did.

Everyone's favorite meal is already on a plate, warm and smelling delicious. It even comes with their favorite breakfast drinks—telling them they're so predictable in the future.

“You really are a wonderful girl,” Lena says fondly, kissing the top of her head in such a motherly way it makes Kara's eyes fill with happy tears.

But, of course, something has to happen when they finish breakfast; when they're feeling like a connected family; when they avoid the heavy stuff for a little longer.

Of course, Kara's phone has to buzz to bring bad news—and the mood around them drops with Alex's information that… the person who is after El, whoever they are, they've just been spotted on the west part of the city.

 

//

 

Lyra feels her heart sinking.

She hears Lena calling her name worriedly but can’t bring herself to pay attention, to listen. There is a louder voice in her head… a memory of something she wishes she could forget.

 _“There is nothing you can do to stop me,” the voice said. “I_ will _do what I have to. It's just a matter of time before I find the right way.”_

Lyra was faster but they did come.

They are here—and it's going to begin.

“Honey?”

She doesn’t know what happens, but, suddenly, Lena’s face is in front of her, looking worriedly, and she's saying something Lyra can’t understand. The only thing that catches her attention is her mom's hand on hers, softly brushing a thumb on the back of her hand.

“Breathe. Breathe,” she says it repeatedly, and it's only because of it that Lyra is able to listen. “There you go.”

She closes her eyes to concentrate on her mother's touch—warm and gentle—until she's okay again, until she's calmer.

“Keep breathing.”

Kara approaches her with a glass of water, the same worried expression on her face as she kneels beside Lena. “What is it, _little one_?”

“It’s them,” she answers in a barely audible voice, her body shaking in fear, cold like a winter's wind. “I don’t know who, but it's them.”

Kara has a crinkle on her forehead, a concerned one, but she asks gently, “The person who is after El?”

Lyra nods and looks at Lena with tears in her eyes, unable to stop them from falling. “The person who took you away from us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello. :)
> 
> As usual, if you feel like it, let me know your thoughts on this chapter.
> 
> (I might already have the next one almost written, so I'll probably post it on Wednesday.)
> 
> I hope you have a wonderful day/ night. x


	6. A message from space

Kara knew her dream was real.

She knew something was going to happen with Lena. But having the confirmation now, with her own daughter explaining how it happened… Kara just can’t. This is too much—too much pain that brings too many memories of her dream, of her fears.

She breaks with Lyra's words, breaks with the pain in her voice, breaks with the fear in her eyes.

But she can’t do anything besides listen because, if she interrupts, Lyra won’t be able to explain everything, to say what she has to.

 

//

 

_Lyra was lying on the grass, looking up at the sky, El right beside her. Kara and Lena were somewhere behind them, resting under a tree, probably reading something._

_It was such a perfect summer day._

_The air smelled like flowers, the sun was shining, the birds were singing. It would probably be one of Lyra's favorite days. It had everything to be a great day._

_“Look!” she pointed at a cloud in the sky, nudging her sister with her leg. “It looks like a heart.”_

_“Don’t point at them,” El reached for her arm, lowering it back beside her body. “It’ll grow another finger in your hand if you do that.”_

_Lyra let out a shocked sound, “Who said that?”_

_“Grandma did.”_

_“Oh, come on,” Lyra rolled her eyes. “Grandma Eliza would never say that.”_

_El was trying to hold back a smile when she turned to her sister to say, “I didn’t say it was her.”_

_Lyra looked into her green eyes, narrowing hers as if realizing what she was trying to do. “I don’t believe a word you say.”_

_El gasped, feigning offense. “My feelings, little one!”_

_The younger sister let out a snort before rolling on the grass to get away from her. “Stop it.”_

_She got up and El quickly followed, throwing an arm around her shoulders so they could walk together. “So, aren’t you gonna ask who said it?”_

_Lyra hummed, “I have a feeling you’re trying to play me, so, no, I won’t.”_

_“I'm not trying to do that.” El tried to contain her giggle, but she wasn’t able to. She looked defeated as she leaned to kiss Lyra's cheek and say with a pout, “You know me too well, little one.”_

_She started to run towards their mothers, doing a backflip to show herself, and it was in that moment… it was in that moment that it happened._

_Lyra was approaching them slowly, watching her family—watching Lena sitting under a tree, reading a book; watching Kara with her head on Lena's lap, taking a nap in the warm sun… watching El sitting beside them, reaching for a strawberry on a basket._

_And, suddenly, El wasn’t there anymore. The whole world seemed to get quiet as they saw her, a few feet away, struggling with a figure in a black suit, mask on their face, holding El as if… as if ready to take her life away._

_And then—_

 

//

 

Lyra's voice break.

She was telling the story with a touch of fondness in her voice until that person came. Now, it doesn’t look like she is able to continue—and it breaks Kara's heart in a way she finds it difficult to breathe.

Lyra's blue eyes are fixed on Lena, so sad, so broken.

It's a look both Kara and Lena recognize.

It's a look Kara had on her eyes the night before; when she woke up after that awful dream and needed to see her best friend, to touch her, to make sure she was okay.

And Lena… Even if she is holding Lyra's hand, drawing lazy patterns in her skin to help her keep breathing, there is such a sad expression on her face. She looks so broken Kara can’t help but remember the words she shared last night.

This is… this is too much for them.

Her voice barely comes out when she whispers, “You don’t have to tell us exactly what happened, little one.”

_You don’t have to go through this again in your memories._

Lyra looks a bit relieved as she nods, looking gratefully at her. “But I still have to tell you what happened after that. You need to know because I think it can help.”

Kara nods at her and offers a glass of water, which Lyra barely drinks from but holds it distractedly as she explains what happened after Lena was… after Lena was taken away.

“Before I left…”

 

//

 

_Lyra was looking at her unconscious sister, listening to her weak heart beating. It seemed like just a matter of time before it stopped; before El would give up fighting. Lyra didn’t know what her sister was feeling, if she was in any sort of pain, but she couldn’t stay there without doing anything._

_She couldn’t just wait._

_“I’ll be right back,” she whispered to her sister, gently squeezing her hand before leaving._

_The first thing she noticed was how everything was quiet. The DEO was so quiet it didn’t even look like the secret agency Lyra has come to know and love. The only sounds came from footsteps and conversations that didn’t last too long. It seemed like every agent has just lost an important person… or like they'd just lost someone from their own family._

_That thought almost made Lyra break._

_She leaned against a wall, lingering there for a moment to control her shaky breath. She tried not to think on Lena, on El, on Kara… but that was almost impossible. Especially when seeing her mother, not far away from her, talking to her aunt Alex._

_There was a crinkle of concentration on her forehead, a permanent sad beat in her heart. It looked like she was forcing herself to stay up but she seemed on the edge of breaking._

_If this was hard for Lyra, she couldn’t imagine how it was for Kara. How it felt to lose her spouse, her one true love; to wake up and not…_

_Oh, Rao._

_That would change her. That would hunt her wherever she'd go._

_Kara had gone through so much, but she was so happy lately. You could see it in everything that she did. And seeing her like this now…_

_Lyra was with even more determination to do what she decided to before leaving El's bedroom._

_She was a second away to keep going, to leave the building and go back in time to save her family… when Winn approached the Danvers' sisters, running towards them with a tablet on his hands._

_“Guys, we got a new message.”_

_Alex whispered something to Kara before she reached for her hand—clenching and unclenching—and held it tight. She looked at Winn with a soft but very Agent Danvers’ expression. “From whom?”_

_Winn was typing on his device to make the footage appear in a larger screen. “Do you remember that woman who sent a short story about El and everything sixteen years ago?”_

_Lyra had never heard of that woman before, but she looked intently at the screen she has just appeared on. A tall, pale woman with dark hair. She had a beautiful, calm face that made Lyra instantly think she looked like a good person but… there was a bruise on her left eye._

_“What happened to her?” Kara asked, holding Alex's hand tighter._

_“I don’t know.” Winn took a deep breath and looked specifically at Kara. “It’s not wonderful news but— It'll help us to make everything right again.”_

_Kara nodded, a bit apprehensive, and Winn let the footage roll._

_The woman's voice was soft, a bit low when she started speaking. “Hello. I don’t know if you guys remember me but I— I'm the person who used to take care of the baby you have come to know as Eleanor. I apologize for my appearance but I'm here again, unfortunately, to warn you about another plan to… hurt the girl. My boss wants to do go back in time to the exact moment Eleanor showed up in your lives. They don’t know yet when that happened; when I put her in that pod and sent her to you. But… there is little I can do to stop them from here. I'm coming to Earth but I must arrive only in two days. I won’t be able to stop them so I— I need your help. There is still one way to save her, to stop all this. You have to—”_

_Lyra's heart was beating so fast, Kara must've heard it. She pressed pause on it and turned around a second too fast for Lyra to hide. Though that would've been useless anyway. “Little one?”_

_She was looking at the ground as she came out of her hiding place but Kara touched her chin for her to look up and meet her soft gaze._

_“Do you know who she is?”_

_Lyra nodded, “El told me about her. She is the first person from her memories. The first person who took care of her before El came to you and mom. I didn’t know she had contacted you before.”_

_“Sixteen years ago,” Kara said, looking at her with a soft smile. “That woman took care of El like she was her own daughter and helped us to keep her safe.”_

_“Who is her boss?”_

_“We don’t know yet,” Kara leaned on the desk behind her as if she needed something to hold her weight. She looked very tired and a bit older than twenty-four hours ago. “They're very dangerous. They want to hurt your sister because she has an important thing to do when she grows up. Something that they don’t want to happen.”_

_Lyra looked at the woman on the screen again, “What do we have to do to save her?”_

_Kara didn’t answer, and, when Lyra looked back at her, she was with an even broken expression on her face._

_“Can’t we go back in time to save her and mom?”_

_Kara held her breath, tears filling her eyes, heart beating in a sad rhythm again. Her voice was so painful as she confessed that, “I want so much to do that, little one. I don’t know how I'll wake up every day and realize that I don’t have your mother beside me anymore, but I— I can’t.”_

_Lyra approached her, a tear rolling down her cheek. “Why not?”_

_Alex touched her shoulder gently, “Because that's exactly what they want us to do. Going back in time will expose us even more and… everything that we know might change for worse.”_

_Lyra frowned, “I don’t understand.”_

_“That is not an option, Lyra,” Kara whispered weakly, calling her by the name to make this sound serious, though never in a harsh way. “I promised Lena I wouldn’t put El's life in danger like that. If we go back, we'll be opening a door for them to kill your sister.”_

 

//

 

“But I didn’t listen.”

Lyra looks exhausted when she closes her eyes and leans to rest her head on Lena’s shoulder.

“I thought I could save El but I— I've only put her in danger.”

“You _saved_ her,” Lena whispers, drifting her hand up and down on her back. “If you hadn't come… who knows what would've happened to her.”

“She is right,” Kara agrees softly, touching Lyra's knee to call her attention, to make her open her eyes. “If we didn’t have your help, we would never know about El. If aunt Astra hadn’t come last night, I—”

“Aunt Astra?” Lyra pulls away from Lena and frowns in confusion. “Why— What do you mean? Is she here?”

Kara nods, a bit confused as well.

“You told me—” Lyra moves excitedly on the chair, looking at them hopefully. “That night, before I left, you told me aunt Astra would help us. She was already doing something. I didn’t listen but I— If she— Is she really here?”

Kara nods again, smiling softly at her.

“Oh, Rao…” Lyra runs her hand on her hair, putting a strand behind her ear. “I— This means we— Can we go see her?”

“Actually…”

The expression her daughter makes when the doorbell rings is something Kara wishes she could have in a photograph.

“She came here to see you.”

“When…?”

“While you were telling us the story.”

Lyra looks at her with a silent question in her eyes, swallowing as if to ask it, but interrupting herself when Astra shows up in the kitchen. Instead of asking, she says, “You’re really here.”

Astra opens a fond smile at her, “Hello, little one.”

Lyra's heart is beating fast as she approaches the older woman to give her a long, tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

And it's in this moment Kara realizes that Astra is actually the only connection Lyra has to the place she came from; the only one who also knows what the future holds if they don’t stop who is trying to mess up with it.

And it's in this moment Kara looks at Lena and notices her friend chewing on her bottom lip; notices her friend breathing slowly in a forced way to control a deep emotion.

“Hey,” the blond calls gently in a low voice so no one will be able to hear. “You want to get outside for some fresh air?”

Lena looks at her with furrowed brows to hold back her tears, to hide it, but Kara recognizes her voice when she answers just as lowly, “I’m fine.”

“Lena…”

Her green eyes are pleading her to let it go, to forget it. _Just for now_ , she mouths it, and, even though Kara doesn’t quite understand it, she respects her wishes.

 

//

 

Lena gratefully leans closer to Kara when the woman silently sits beside her and presses a gentle kiss on her temple. Her heart can’t help but miss a beat when the woman touches her ear, looking ready to speak but ending up not saying anything. Not until she whispers a simple but meaningful, “I love you.”

With a deep intake of air, Lena rests a hand on Kara's thigh; barely able to move her thumb up and down, barely able to trust her voice to say it back. She just doesn’t want to risk Lyra catching any changes in it and getting worried about her; doesn’t want her daughter to know how much… how much those words broke her and made her get scared.

Scared because, now, she has people who really care about her; who really love her.

She has a family, a really beautiful one, and she would do anything to protect them. Especially baby El, who pouts when their eyes meet and stretches her baby arms in that characteristic silent way to ask to be held.

Lena has never held a baby before but she finds herself protectively wrapping her arms around El like it's usual for her. She silently watches as those cute baby's hands touch the emerald gem, playing with it gently, before meeting her eyes again. Baby El doesn’t take a second to let out a soft sound and move excitedly on her lap, pointing at her eyes as if to say they have the same green color.

And Lena can’t help but open a smile. “Clever girl.”

She almost melts when El opens a beautiful baby grin before shyly nuzzling on her neck to hide her face.

This is a familiar reaction Lena’s seen a lot on the woman sitting right beside her, and, with the way the blond presses her lips to hide a smile, she clearly knows it, too. “Don’t say anything.”

Lena nudges their shoulders together and opens a smile at her, making Kara stop trying to hide hers. “But she looks so much like you.”

Kara wraps an arm around Lena to get closer. “I don’t understand why they have different eye colors, though.”

“Well, this might help,” Astra says, handing them a tablet with a footage already on the screen. Taking Lyra's description earlier, this is the woman who warned them about her boss’s plans. “This message was recorded with the same camera we found in the pod. Winn looked really excited when finding it.”

“He usually is,” Kara says with a fond smile, waiting for Eliza to get closer to press play.

“Hello,” the woman on the screen says, her voice soft and a bit shy. The scenario behind her is very simple, but Lena catches small details that seem to be from a spaceship. “If you’re watching this then it means you've found the baby who was in the pod. I came here to tell you a little about her. I’ve been taking care of her even before she was born because there was a… project my boss wanted to do. They had a DNA sample from a woman called Lena Luthor and wanted to mix it with someone else's to create a baby. I— I know it wasn’t in my right to do what I did but I actually changed the other DNA to Kara Zor-El's. I apologize if I did something I shouldn’t but I— I've seen you guys together, I've seen how much you care and love each other, so I thought that, maybe, you'd prefer to have a baby with someone you actually know and like.”

Kara leaves a soft kiss on Lena's shoulder, careful not to wake baby El who is almost falling asleep.

“The baby doesn’t have a name yet because I thought I could leave that for you,” the woman keeps saying, a smile playing in her lips. “I just ask that you take good care of her. She'll have an important mission when she grows up and, depending on what happens, it might change your world for better or for worse. There is a myth about this but, unfortunately, I cannot tell you about it. For now, all I can say is that it's something that will involve my boss, which means we'll probably meet again. I hope I'll be able to help when the time comes.”

Sixteen years from now.

“I hope you have a happy family together. And I— I apologize for intruding again.”

She waves shyly before the screen fades away.

They are quiet for a moment until Eliza asks in a soft voice, “Do you guys know her name?”

Lyra shakes her head and nervously fidgets with her hands. “Mom told me she has never introduced herself enough to say it.”

“I guess she thinks it's not important,” Astra says. “But there is— There is something I think you guys don’t know yet. In the last message she sent, which was sixteen years from now, she explained what we have to do to stop who is after El.”

As if knowing they are talking about her, the baby moves in her sleep and lets out a low cry like she did last night. And, as if remembering it, both Kara and Lena put a hand on her lower back to protect her from whatever it is she's dreaming with.

“To stop them, we must know their identity first,” Astra says, looking terribly like she's about to give a not so good information. “Their great weakness is something that— If El is the chosen one to stop them, only her would be able to find out what it is.”

“But El is—” Lyra looks at the sleeping baby on Lena's arms, getting pale with every passing second. “Oh, Rao. What have I done?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello. :)
> 
> Just quickly want to thank you, again, for your lovely comments. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably have given up on this story. You guys are amazing, really.
> 
> And, as usual, if you feel like it, let me know what you're thinking so far. x


	7. The fallen mask

Lyra shouldn’t have come, shouldn’t be here. She should have listened to her mother, should have trusted her aunt.

She closes her eyes and forces herself not to cry as feeling Astra's hand gently touching her shoulder, quietly kneeling in front of her. Her voice is soft when she speaks, and Lyra knows she is doing that to help her concentrate. “This isn’t your fault, little one. You were just trying to save your sister.”

Lyra shakes her head, inhaling short amounts of air before letting it out fast. She swallows with difficulty and starts to brush her thumb on her forefinger, putting a bit of pressure every now and then. It doesn’t take long for her to realize it isn’t working, it isn’t helping her to calm down.

“Look,” Astra reaches for her hand and puts something soft in it, something small. Lyra doesn’t open her eyes but she lets her fingers drift in the material, trying to recognize what it is without seeing it. “Do you remember this?”

The cape.

She frowns to control the burning behind her eyes, nodding slowly. “ _Mom_ gave it to us when El and I were younger. We used to sleep with it all the time.”

“She lent it to me so I could come here,” Astra says, a fond touch in her voice that makes Lyra open her eyes. “She was really scared when she didn’t find you.”

Lyra looks at Kara, unable to feel guiltier when finding the sad expression on her face.

But, before both of them can say anything, Astra keeps explaining in the same soft voice, “We didn’t know you were here. We thought something had happened to you. But, then, we found out that someone had gone back in time, so I came.”

“Was El awake when you left?”

Astra shakes her head, “Not yet. But Alex was working very hard to find out what happened to her. Maybe— Maybe if we stop who is after her, she'll be okay.”

Lyra nods, taking a deep breath before looking at her sister, peacefully sleeping on Lena’s arms. Her heart is beating in a calm but strong way, letting Lyra know she is okay.

“I actually thought El was the one who came here,” Astra whispers, holding one of Lyra's hands. “I don’t know why but… I did. And I was really scared when I found out it was you. You weren’t supposed to be here because this isn’t your responsibility.”

“I wanted to help.”

“I know, little one,” Astra squeezes her hand and opens a sad smile. “I know you have the best intentions in your heart. You are an amazing girl who's just trying to protect your family. Honestly, I would’ve done the same. No matter the cost.”

“That's why you’re here?”

Astra nods and gets closer to whisper in an even softer voice, “But we have to be careful with what we do. We can’t tell them too much about the future. We can’t change it too much.”

“We’re trying to keep it how it's supposed to.”

Astra nods again, looking proudly into her eyes. “I promise I'll do everything to give you your family back. We will save El and Lena.”

Lyra's vision gets blurred with tears. “I love you, aunt Astra.”

“I love you, too.” The woman gladly accepts her hug, wrapping her arms tightly around her body. When they pull away from each other, Astra playfully touches the tip of her nose. “Have you seen Lena's ring?”

Lyra looks directly at her mother's finger, her heart beating a little happier when finding the engagement ring properly back on its place. She might have left it behind on purpose just to see Lena with it once again.

“Are you okay, honey?”

She looks into her mother's green eyes before nodding shyly, trying really hard to control her emotions. But she can’t help remembering El's fond voice when telling a lovely story in a quiet night, under the stars.

 _“I was really young, so I don’t remember everything in details. I just know that we were going to L-Corp when_ mom _spotted the ring. She stared at it for… I don’t know, maybe two minutes. She was thinking and thinking… and thinking a little bit more…” El paused for a moment as a slight cold breeze blew over them, a bit refreshing in the warm air. “I remember how nervous she looked. I didn’t actually know it was nervousness but, thinking back on it, I do now.”_

_“Did mom like it?”_

_“That’s the best part of the story, little one,” El smiled to the night. “Mom loved it so much that, even after getting married, she still uses it. Just like she does with that necklace. But she told me something I've never forgotten. When you give something to someone you like… it doesn’t matter what it is… what matters is the way you do, the words you say, the feeling you bring to their hearts. And, years later, when you look at that same gift, you'll remember everything like you’re living it once again. That was when I realized how much they love each other, little one. And how rare that is.”_

After El told her that, Lyra started to notice the simple things both Kara and Lena did around each other. She could see their love growing and growing with each passing day.

She could see it now, right before her eyes.

“You sure?”

Lyra nods again, still shy, but knowing this is something she can’t actually share with them. “I just— If you don’t mind, can you keep the ring until we… solve everything?”

She listens to the way her mother’s heart beats with her request—soft but strong, telling Lyra she is remembering something important—and she knows the answer even before Lena says with a deep emotion in her voice, “I would never mind it, honey.”

 

//

 

They decide to stay there for a little longer. Astra says that Winn is trying to track who is after El, and, as Kara doesn’t want to leave anyone behind to keep them safe, they stay at Eliza's house.

With El still sleeping on her arms, moving a little bit every now and then, Lena excuses herself to go upstairs and put her on a bed. She is aware of Kara getting up to follow, but Eliza gently touches her arm to stop her. She says something that makes Kara nod, and, then, the older woman follows Lena upstairs.

It is a bit surprising—Lena can’t deny—the way Kara's family has been treating her… and she finds herself liking them more and more. She can’t help but remember Kara’s words last night, saying that her family is also hers.

That warms her heart in a way she has never expected.

Eliza helps her to put pillows around El, making the bed comfortable for the baby. They don’t talk, but Lena knows Eliza followed her there for a reason. And, well, she is tremendously surprised when Kara's adoptive mother simply asks in a gentle voice, “Are you okay, Lena?”

The brunette meets her eyes, full of motherly love, and nods slowly. “I am, thank you.”

“I’ve— I'm sorry if I'm intruding but I saw the look on your face when Lyra was telling that story.” Eliza's voice is even softer, lower as if she doesn’t want anyone else to listen. “I can’t imagine how you’re feeling with all this but, if I know Kara well, she will do the impossible to keep the ones she loves safe.”

“I know,” Lena answers in the same soft voice.

“If you need anything, whatever it is, we are here for you.”

Lena nods, pressing her lips together to control her emotions and to keep the tears in her eyes.

It feels like Eliza notices it because she opens a small, caring smile. “I’m not trying to make you embarrassed, but I just want to say that Kara will be really happy to have a family with you. The girls seem to be amazing.”

“Yeah,” Lena opens a shy smile, her cheeks starting to burn regardless of Eliza's previous words. “I— I really appreciate having your daughter in my life. Kara's been… a great friend since we met. I don’t know how I would’ve gone through some things without her by my side.”

“I’m sure she feels the same way.” Eliza's smile gets wider as if she just remembered something. “Actually, since she met you, Kara just wouldn’t stop talking about the amazing things you've done.”

Lena's cheeks are definitely burning now.

“Oh, I did make you embarrassed. I’ll leave now.” Eliza walks to the door, pausing in the threshold to look back at Lena with a soft expression. “When this is over, would you like to come back for dinner sometime? I'll invite Alex and Maggie as well, so you won’t feel pressured.”

Lena can’t really help the low chuckle that escapes. “I would love to, Eliza, thank you.”

The woman nods as if that is nothing, but her next words almost make Lena cry right there. “You are already part of the family, Lena. This is the least I can do.”

She takes a deep breath when Eliza leaves. Her heart is beating in a strong, nervous way she can’t really contain. She knows it won’t take long for Kara—or even Lyra—to listen to it and to come after her to know if she is okay.

And realizing that… Once again, Lena thinks about her daughter's words, about the story she told. Once again, Lena stops to think about what it means to have a family.

She can no longer throw herself into danger without thinking about them. I mean, that won’t actually stop her on doing what is right, especially to protect them, but now… Now she is not alone anymore. Now, she has people who will miss her when she's gone—and that makes her fear death a tiny bit more.

“Hey,” Kara calls softly, gently, approaching and kneeling in front of her. She takes both Lena's hands on hers, making the brunette stop fidgeting so hard with it. “What is it, Lee?”

Lena presses her lips together and looks at their hands, noticing Kara is brushing a thumb in her skin, drawing an _S_ repeatedly. That helps her to calm down a bit, but she doesn’t know how to explain what is on her mind. “I— I'm not used to have a family, Kar.”

A thoughtful crinkle appears on her forehead but Kara doesn’t say anything just yet. She patiently waits for Lena to sort out her words, getting a tiny bit closer and never stopping to caress her skin.

“I'm not used to think about who is in my life when I decide to do something risky. I usually don’t stop to think if I have someone who will miss—” she bites her bottom lip and breathes out slowly. “I've never had to worry about who I'm leaving behind, Kar. I've always been alone. But now… I'm afraid I'll do something that will disappoint you, that will hurt you. I'm afraid your family will end up thinking that I'm just another evil Luthor.”

“That will never happen.” Kara cups her face gently, her blue eyes sadly looking into green ones. “I know in my heart, Lena, that you will _never_ do something to hurt me or anyone else. It doesn’t matter what your last name is, who your family is. You _are_ a good person. You are _such_ a good person. I believe in you with everything that I am, and if I have to tell you this for the rest of my life, I'll do so.”

Lena's tears fall openly, and Kara dries each one of them with her thumb.

“You have the best Luthor traits, Lena,” she keeps whispering. “You use them to do good things for the world, no matter if people know it or not. But everyone that knows it, everyone that knows the real Lena, get inspired by your actions. That's what matters. And, honestly, you inspire me to be better every single day. I can’t even describe how proud I am that I'll get to call such a wonderful and smart woman my wife someday.”

Lena opens a weak smile and moves forward to press her lips on Kara's.

“That is… if you'll still want to marry me.”

Lena laughs softly, “You silly. I'd marry you a hundred times if I could.”

When they press their lips together again, Lena's heart beats faster when recognizing the amount of love Kara pours in their kiss. She'd never thought it was possible to feel such a deep emotion on a kiss, such a meaningful one, but she does with Kara. She does feel it every single time Kara touches her skin… and she tries to make her feel the same when pressing a little harder on her.

“I really do love you,” Kara whispers a bit breathless, moving her mouth to Lena's jaw, to Lena’s neck, hugging her tight and so close their hearts pound fast against each other. “I won’t lose you, Lena. I won’t let them take you or any of the girls away.”

There is a hidden feeling in her voice, a feeling that means this is the last calm moment they'll have before everything gets crazy.

This is the only moment they'll have to say what they want to.

“Come back to me when it ends,” Lena whispers, moving her fingers on Kara's soft blond hair. “I love you too much, Kar, to live in a world where you are not in it. So, please, _please_ , don’t fight to your death. Let us help you if you need.”

Kara nods and hugs her even tighter.

“Be careful, darling.”

“Always.”

That's the moment they hear someone approaching the bedroom. And, a second before Lyra shows up with a terrified expression, they know it. There is no time for anything anymore because, “They found us.”

 

//

 

Kara is still hugging Lena when she hears it. The same sound she heard the other night; the sound of… someone flying close by. Whoever it is, they are approaching fast and it won’t take long for them to arrive.

She stretches a hand toward Lyra, holding it gently when the girl approaches them. Her chest is quickly moving up and down with her breath, but her voice is strong when asking, “What do you need me to do?”

It is clear she is ready to fight if needed. It is clear she'd do anything to keep her sister safe. But Kara can’t let her go outside to fight with someone they don’t know. She can’t let her risk her life like that.

“Stay with your mom,” she asks, half hoping Lyra will complain about it but the girl nods as if that will be the most important thing she'll do. “Stay inside. No matter what, little one. Keep them safe, okay?”

Lyra nods again and squeezes her hand. “Be careful, _mom_.”

“I will.” Kara kisses her forehead, then moves to leave a soft kiss on baby El. “Sweet dreams, baby girl. I'll be right back.”

“I love you, Kar,” Lena whispers when the blond leans to give her another kiss, hoping this won’t be the last time she'll get to do it. “I really do.”

“I love you, too.”

“Alex is coming with backup,” Eliza informs, stepping inside the bedroom, her phone on her hands. “She’ll be here in five minutes.”

Kara nods and hugs her tightly, “Stay here with them.”

“Be careful, honey.”

Kara looks at them one more time before closing the door, not lingering too much because this terribly feels like goodbye. She knows she'll do anything to protect them, but she can’t stop thinking on Lena’s words, on the sound of her terrified heartbeat when asking her to _not fight to her death_.

“Little one?”

Astra is looking at her with such a concerned expression that it reminds Kara a little bit of her mother.

“It’s going to be okay,” Astra says softly. “ _El-mayarah_.”

Kara opens a small, grateful smile, “ _El-mayarah_.”

They step outside at the exact moment the figure in the black suit lands in the yard. Kara's heart is beating fast in her chest, so she takes deep breaths to calm herself and to quietly pray with everything that she has.

_Help me to protect them. Help me to keep them safe. Guide me, Rao, to do the right thing. Guide me to defeat them._

She studies the person in front of her but there is no detail for her to catch. She can’t even tell if they are able to fly because of the suit or because of a superpower. It looks like that thing has been properly designed for them… properly made to keep their identity hidden… and probably with some futuristic technology in it.

This won’t be easy.

Kara is sure of it when the figure speaks, and, once again, there is no small hint of who they are.

“Well, well. Look who is in the land of the wrong things. Astra In-Ze. If I knew I'd have such great company to receive me, I'd have come earlier.”

Astra is right beside Kara and she narrows her eyes to them, “You know me?”

“The real question here is what I _don’t_ know?”

“Care to tell us who you are, then?”

“That isn’t important,” the figure says, taking a step forward. “I want the baby. If you give her to me, I might not kill her right before your eyes.”

“You won’t take her anywhere,” Kara says with a calm though strong voice. “You won’t get any closer to her.”

“Kara Zor-El,” the figure says, moving to look at her. Even if Kara can't actually see those eyes, she feels the cruelty on them. “I will take that baby whether you like it or not. Your dear aunt Astra must’ve told you what I already did to your beloved future wife. If you don’t want me to do it again, hand me the baby.”

Kara takes a step forward, clenching her hands beside her body, “You won’t touch neither of them.”

It takes a second for the voice to come out and say, “Try me.”

And there is something in that short delay. Even if that voice is modified, Kara catches something in it. She just isn’t able to place it.

“Why do you want her so badly?”

“She’s supposed to be mine.”

Astra takes a step forward, frowning at the figure in deep confusion. “She— What do you mean?”

“ _I_ was supposed to be—” they move closer again, their voice, their posture, clear with anger for almost spilling something. “She’s a mistake. I created her to _protect_ me. That stupid woman switched the DNAs, and, now, I've created the one person who is meant to destroy me. But I'll destroy her first.”

The figure moves fast as if to enter the house, but, in the last second, Kara is able to stop them by holding their arm. Astra is right behind to stop them, but the blond holds tight, looking at that black mask with wide eyes, heart beating fast once again because they almost did it.

They are not playing anymore.

This is real.

Her voice is filled with anger when saying through her teeth, “Do _not_ dare to go inside.”

“Do _not_ give me orders,” they clench their hands tightly and move away from her hold. “You can’t stop me. Your own daughter tried but she ended up killing her own mother.”

“That was _not_ what happened,” Astra says, moving forward once again, making the figure take a step back. “Take responsibility for your actions. You killed Lena because she tried to save her daughter. You didn’t have to do that, but you did to make them suffer.”

“You don’t know my plans.”

“But I know your manners.” Astra takes another step forward but the figure doesn’t back away. Kara can’t see her face, but she recognizes her aunt's voice. Astra is thinking fast, a possibility on her mind… a _person_ on her mind. She probably has an idea of who is behind that mask. “You did that so they'd go back in time. You did that so they’d tell you when this all happened… when the baby came to Earth.”

Kara is able to listen the smirk in the figure's voice when they say, “It worked, didn’t it?”

“You made a mistake coming here,” Astra pushes them far away from the house, following when they back a few feet away. “You didn’t cross my path earlier because you knew I'd recognize you. You can’t hide anymore. Take off your mask.”

The figure lowers their head slightly, a pleasant tone in their voice when saying, “There is no one who can destroy me now. _You_ did a mistake coming here. Your precious baby won’t be able to find any weakness in me. I’ve already won.”

Kara doesn’t like that confident tone but she gets a bit more hopeful when she hears helicopters approaching. Alex. She gets closer to Astra, stopping right beside her, looking directly at the figure. “I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“You know nothing, Zor-El.”

“This is not over yet,” Astra says, crossing her arms over her chest. “You've never understood what _el-mayarah_ means. We can still stop you.”

The figure laughs loudly, “Oh, please. Do not come with this talk again. You're all pathetic. I’ve accomplished so much more without anyone beside me. I don’t _need_ a family. I need allies. You should know it, Astra.”

It is getting clear that they know each other. Astra and this figure, they have a history together. And Kara has only seen her aunt speaking with that despise in her voice to only one person. Is this the same one? The same man that Astra never treated like a part of her family?

“Take off your mask.”

The same man from…

Kara watches, with her breath stuck in her lungs, as the figure lifts their hands slowly to reveal himself, to reveal a terrible scar across his face. The only difference from the man Kara knew as her aunt's husband.

Another ghost from her past.

Another ghost from another multiverse.

Non opens such a cruel smile; his voice now completely recognizable when saying, “Hello, General.”

 

//

 

Lieutenant Non.

Astra's husband.

The man from her aunt's stories has a proper face now. A face that is intently right in from of the women in the yard. He is looking at them with a content expression, with a side smirk in his lips.

He is the one behind all this. The one who has been trying to kill her sister and who killed her mother.

Lyra can’t help but remember Astra's words in a quiet fall morning, a few months after she showed up in their lives, telling a story about her previous whereabouts.

_“Non and I used to travel a lot a few years ago,” Astra started saying, her eyes fixed in the distance, a warm cup of tea forgotten in her hand. “We’d go to different planets, to different multiverses. We saw a lot of things. We met a lot of places we never thought could exist. We mostly tried to help whoever needed us, and we learned so much in each place.”_

_“Do you miss that?” Kara asked in a soft voice, handing a cup of orange juice to El. “I can hear it in your voice you liked it.”_

_“I did,” Astra opened a small smile. “I loved to do that. I felt like I had a purpose. We could help so many people with all our knowledge. But Non— He was different. I noticed when the look on his eyes changed. He started to see another purpose to our travels. It took me a few weeks to find out about his new plans. He wanted to control every planet that had the best resources. We started to fight every now and then, and I told him I'd leave if he continued with his plans. I didn’t want to hurt people. Non knew that. I didn’t want to be part of it and I— I found out that there was another woman as well. Indigo.”_

_“What happened?” Lyra asked, so absorbed in the story she slightly jumped on her chair when El kicked her shin. “Ouch! Why did you do that?”_

_“It's impolite to ask such thing.”_

_Astra laughed softly, “It’s okay, El. I don’t mind talking about it.”_

_“Okay.” El moved on her chair and asked eagerly, “What happened, then?”_

_Lena shook her head, an apologetic smile on her lips. “I apologize for their manners.”_

_“No worries,” Astra winked at the brunette as if that was really nothing. “What happened, ladies, is that I left my husband. It didn’t seem like he cared at the time. Non actually never cared about who he'd hurt when trying to make his plans come true.”_

_Lyra got up from her chair and approached the woman to give her a hug. “I’m sorry, aunt Astra.”_

_“Thank you, little one.”_

_“You don’t have to tell us what happened,” El said in a soft voice; her forehead with a sad crinkle._

_“I know,” Astra squeezed Lyra's hand gently, a grateful touch in the gesture. “But don’t you want to know what happened when he came after me again?”_

_Kara almost choked with her drink, “He did that?”_

_Astra nodded, “He said he needed me. He needed an_ ally _to control the rebels on the planets. Little did he know_ I _was part of that group as well.”_

_“You kidding,” El said with a happy, enthusiastic voice. “This story is getting even better. What happened?”_

_“Well, after I refused to help him…” Astra shrugged and let out a sigh. “He tried to expose me to red Kryptonite. He was really angry when it didn’t work. And, when we crossed paths again, he said horrible things. I knew he had given up on me when we fought that day. And I— I gave him a scar. I didn’t mean to, but he was ready to hurt me.”_

_“When was the last time you saw him?”_

_Astra looked at El, a small hint of concern on her eyes. “No one has seen him in years.”_

But there he is now.

“Did you miss me, General?”

Astra’s voice is harsh when she says, “I could never miss a monster.”

There is a small hint of hurt in his eyes, a feeling that disappears as quickly as it appears. Lyra isn’t even sure if she read it right, but she is distracted by the DEO's helicopters approaching.

Aunt Alex.

“I would advise your little friends not to land,” Non says, looking up at the sky. “But it'll be more people to watch me kill your daughter.”

Kara takes a deep breath and clenches her hands beside her body. “I’ve already said you’re not going to touch her.”

“You don’t even know her,” the man looks at Kara as if she is crazy, a mocking smirk on his lips. “How can you love someone you don’t know?”

“She is my daughter,” Kara answers, her voice so strong Lyra does hear the emotion in it. “It wouldn’t matter if she had my blood or not. If she needs me, I will protect her with everything I got.”

Non rolls his eyes, “Love is such a pathetic thing.”

Lyra can’t take it anymore. She looks up at Lena, right beside her, watching everything that is happening in the yard but not quite hearing the words. Her heart is beating in an anxious rhythm, making Lyra bite her lip; feeling tremendously guilty for what she'll do to keep them safe. “I’m sorry, mom.”

The brunette looks at her instantly, fear on her face, opening her mouth to say something, but Lyra moves quickly away.

She lands right in front of Non, trying not to listen to Kara's feared gasp. “Lyra, no.”

The blond quickly moves forward to protect her, but Non lifts a hand and looks intently at her; such a mean look it sends shivers to Lyra’s spine. “Do not move, Zor-El. Let me meet the girl who opened the door for me to come here.”

“Don’t you dare to touch her,” Astra says through her teeth. “ _Don’t you dare_ to do anything to her, Non.”

He ignores her to look Lyra up and down, narrowing his eyes to her, frowning slightly. “Were you there when I killed your mother?”

Lyra recognizes he is trying to make her feel guilty, little, unimportant. She can’t help but listen to El's heartbeat as a reassurance to be strong, to keep talking, to get to know more about him until Alex arrives. It's just a few minutes now. “What do you know about love?”

Non snorts loudly, throwing his head back as if she just told an awful joke. “Oh, Rao. You have got to be kidding me. I don’t have time for your stupid questions, kid.”

“El told me there are different kinds of love,” Lyra keeps saying, noticing how his expression get serious with her words. “Sometimes, it can be a good thing; other times, it can be a bad thing. There are a lot of people who'd do crazy things for their loved ones. The good kind might be something simple, harmless. The bad one— Well, sometimes people don’t even realize they're doing something bad until it's too late. Do you recognize your kind of love, Non?”

In a blink of an eye, he moves closer to hold her throat, strangely not holding tight. “ _Don’t_ talk to me like that.”

“Let her go,” Kara asks in a terrified voice, taking a step closer. No one pays attention to the helicopters roaming over them; to the agents drifting over ropes here and there, pointing their guns at Non as soon as hitting the floor. “Let her go, Non. She's just a child.”

"That's the point, isn't it?" he narrows his eyes at her once again, frowning as if he's realizing something. “Just a kid. _Her eyes will shine in the bright blue sky…_ ”

“Non.”

“ _… The door will be closed and her spirit will guide._ ” His hand closes a bit tighter around her throat. “It is you. You are the one meant to destroy me.”

Lyra shakes her head, “You shouldn’t have left aunt Astra.”

“ _She_ shouldn’t have left _me_ ,” he says through his bared teeth. “We should have won the universe. We should have been the most powerful couple.”

“Love is not a competition.” Lyra rests her hand over his when he squeezes tighter. “You could be a good man.”

“Shut up,” he moves his other hand, touching a very sharp dagger in her chest, making Lyra instantly feel weak. “Don’t look at me with pity. You don’t know who I am. You don’t know what I'm capable of.”

“Non, please.”

“Take one more step, Kara,” he threatens, putting more pressure in the dagger, “and I kill her.”

Lyra meets her mother's eyes, barely able to focus on her face, barely able to notice Lena beside her, barely able to notice J'onn moving closer… barely able to whisper, “It’s okay, _mom_. Just keep them safe.”

“Lyra…”

“Stay where you are, Martian,” Non says, without averting his eyes from the girl in front of him. “If any of you try something, I end her right here. The stupid kid is not shielded against Kryptonite.”

“It was a decision I made to keep mom safe,” Lyra whispers, swallowing with difficulty. “You can kill me if you want, but you won’t touch them.”

“Don’t you understand?” Non tilts his head to the side. “Once I kill you, this is over. The universe will be safe again. I don’t have to _kill_ them. I’ll make them _suffer_ without you. Your little friends from the DEO might arrest me to rot in a cell, but _I_ win.”

Lyra feels the dagger just inches away from her heart, but she still dares to say, “At least, I’ll have someone who'll always love me.”

Non’s face gets so dark even the bright, golden sunlight isn't able to reach it.

Lyra barely feels the gravity around them when he flies up, up and away; faster and faster. She listens to Kara's, Lena's, Astra's, and, strangely, El's voices screaming her name. She doesn’t know the altitude they reach before someone hit Non, before someone make him let her go and fall back to the ground.

She just sees Kara flying over her, fear on her face as trying to reach her, stretching her arms to hold her safe… but she is a second too late.

 

//

 

She loses conscience for a second, her whole body hurting, burning with pain, completely unable to heal due to the Kryptonite dagger still craved in her chest. She feels Kara's soft touch in her skin; her face wet with tears, roaming over hers.

“Stay with me, _little one_ ,” she utters in a broken voice. “Keep your eyes opened.”

Lyra sees Lena, crying silently, kneeling beside them. She is with such a sad expression that Lyra reaches to hold her hand, trying but failing to squeeze it. She closes her eyes for a second, barely hearing herself when speaking, “I’m sorry.”

“This is not your fault,” Lena brushes a thumb in her hand. “This is not your fault, honey.”

She looks at Kara then, “What— What happens if I… die here?”

“I don’t know,” Kara shakes her head. “I don’t know, little one.”

“Will I—” she coughs; chest burning, blood drifting from her mouth to her chin in a warm caress. “Will I get stuck in time?”

“I won’t let it.”

She looks at the sky, the clouds getting a soft orange color due to the sunset. This is her favorite time of the day, her favorite moment. “It looks beautiful.”

“Honey, stay with us.”

She tries to take a deep breath, but her chest hurts and small black spots start to dance in her vision. “Was I… brave?”

Lena touches her face gently, “You were braver than any of us could ever be. Save your strength now, okay, honey? We'll take you out of here.”

Lyra looks intently into her eyes; green ones just like her sister's. El. She hopes she's saved her; hopes her sister will get to have a good life with their mothers. “Can you tell El I love her?”

“Little one,” Kara breaks, tears falling in the girl's skin. “ _Don’t_ give up. _Please_. Open your eyes. Don’t go, my beautiful baby, don’t go.”

“I’m sorry.”

She closes her eyes and lets the darkness take her away from this physical pain. She feels herself floating, higher and higher and higher. She feels like she is flying with the birds, flying close to the orange clouds. Her body is warm with that golden sunlight, hurting no longer.

She is a child again, running in the grass with her sister calling her name while they play, “ _Lyra… Lyra… Lyra…_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hate me, but do let me know your thoughts on it.
> 
> Have a great day/ night. x
> 
>  
> 
> PS.: I'll probably post again only in eleven days, sorry.


	8. We do what we have to do

_“Lyra… Lyra… Lyra…”_

_The young girl opens her eyes when a ray of sunshine touches her face, warming her cold skin delicately. There is a salty, light scent of the ocean in the air, and, adding it to the sound of waves, Lyra knows she is in her favorite place. Midvale. She is home. She is safe._

_She could fall asleep back again, could curl up on herself and let the sun warm her body as she takes a much-deserved nap._

_“Lyra…”_

_She looks up and blinks at the clarity. She can’t see her face, but her sister's blond hair is unmistakable. “Hey.”_

_El sits next to her, her warm hand touching her hair in a gentle caress. “You’re cold.”_

_Lyra nods, feeling sleepy again. “I'm tired.”_

_“I know,” El's voice is soft, sad. She gets closer, her knees touching Lyra's ribs on one side. The warmth emanating from her body makes Lyra feel cozy. Suddenly, she feels like she is five again, falling asleep beside El, wrapped in the red cape. “What are you thinking about?”_

_“Family,” Lyra answers, closing her eyes again. “I’m thinking about those days when we were kids. When we used to fall asleep in the living room and both our moms would carry us to bed without waking us up.”_

_“It felt like magic,” El's voice has a fond touch of a smile when she says it, which makes Lyra open her eyes again to find her sister’s dreamy look. “I always knew we'd wake up in bed. No matter how old we got.”_

_Lyra lets out a shaky sigh. “I miss them. I miss those quiet moments when we didn’t have to worry about someone trying to kill us.”_

_“It's almost over.” El puts a raven strand behind her ear, her hand shaking a bit. “You know they will take care of everything. They always do. Just hang on for a little longer.”_

_“I want to sleep.”_

_“I know.”_

_“Maybe for three months.”_

_El chuckles. “You lazy. You wouldn’t sleep for a week after that, though.”_

_“Don’t care.”_

_El's touch on her hair gets even gentler, her voice even softer. “I know you’re tired, but you still have one thing to do, little one.”_

_"I don’t feel like I can move to do whatever it is.”_

_“Not now, silly.” El pushes her earlobe in a playful way. “You’ll know when you'll have to do it but— Do you remember what mom said when you asked her why she is always the last one to let go when she hugs someone?”_

_Lyra looks up at the bright blue sky. “She said that, sometimes, a hug is everything you can give someone to make them feel special, to show them that you care.”_

_El nods. “She also said that, when that happens, when someone trusts you enough to come to you for comfort…”_

_“… the least you can do is to hug them until_ they _are ready to let go.”_

_El nods again, looking serious. “That’s what you'll need to do. When you see those eyes giving up on life, fight to keep the light inside.”_

_Lyra frowns, “What do you mean?”_

_“You’ll understand when the time comes,” El smiles sadly. “Remember my words, Lyra. It's important that you do it. Don’t make them— Don’t let them think they're a monster. It's important that you let them explain. It'll seal the end of all this.”_

_Lyra doesn’t fully understand a word El is saying, but those green eyes are with such pride, with such sisterly love, she can’t help but trust her indefinitely. “Will you be with me?”_

_“I won’t leave your side, little one.”_

_Lyra closes her eyes, feeling a small hint of pain in her left arm as darkness takes her away once again._

 

//

 

Lena rubs the back of her neck as tiredness starts to take over her body. It's well past one o’clock in the morning—the second night in a row she spends hours in the DEO's medical bay. Her eyes burn with sleep, so she closes them for a few seconds, knowing she actually wouldn’t be able to fall asleep even if she wanted to.

She feels like she can’t leave this place, not with her daughter fighting to stay alive in that bedroom. She's stable for now, sleeping, but, sometimes, the young girl lets out cries of pain and starts to pant so hard it's like she'll stop breathing.

It was difficult to deal with that. It was difficult to stay strong for the blond who hugged her every time Lyra would do that; the blond who would bury her face on Lena's neck to block the sounds; the blond who is sitting in a chair right beside Lyra right now.

Lena can’t do much other than watching her sadly caressing Lyra's hand, drawing lazy patterns in her skin. She is with her back to the window, but Lena knows she is talking in a soft voice even if Lyra probably can’t hear. It seems like it makes her get calmer to do that; like nothing bad had happened, like it'll make her sister wake up faster.

It pains Lena to watch that.

“Hey.” Kara's voice comes soft from behind her, arms wrapping her waist, heart beating against her back. “She hasn’t left her side.”

“It's like Astra said,” Lena leans closer to Kara's warm body, feeling a bit safer there, “they are inseparable.”

Kara takes a deep breath, letting it out in a shaky exhale before burying her face on Lena's neck. Her voice is so low when she speaks that Lena takes a minute to process the simple words, “I’m sorry.”

“None of this is your fault, Kar.”

“I didn’t catch her,” Kara utters in a broken voice. “I didn’t see El coming. I didn’t notice she hit Non and made him let Lyra go. I noticed it far too late. We didn’t even get the chance to get to know her better. We—”

“Darling,” Lena turns in her arms, cupping her face gently to meet those blue eyes. “She’s okay now, Kar. She's going to be okay. I know we didn’t get the chance to know her better, but we do know she is a strong girl. She won’t give up easily. She is fighting right now.”

“I should have been faster.”

“I should have stopped her.”

Kara tilts her head to the side, frowning, “This isn’t your fault.”

“It isn’t yours, either,” Lena runs her hand to the back of her neck. “Lyra made a choice. She risked her life to do the right thing just like we do. I know she wasn’t supposed to. I know any of us would take her place willing.”

“Yeah,” Kara agrees, resting her forehead on Lena's. “Definitely.”

“There's nothing we can do now besides being here for her when she wakes up,” Lena continues, stroking her hair gently. “We both know she will, darling. Her vitals are getting better. Slowly, but there are.”

Kara presses their lips softly together, a touch of gratefulness in it. “I think El is helping with the stories she is telling.”

“Are we included in it?”

“Yes,” Kara smiles. “Most of it is from when they were kids. But it seems like we really were a happy family.”

“That won’t change,” Lena caresses her cheek. “No matter what happens, we _will_ have a happy family when this all ends. You gave me one, Kar. I won’t let any of you go easy.”

“I like the sound of that.” Kara kisses her with that deep amount of love before moving her lips to her neck. “Do you want to go to the conference room? Astra is going to talk to Non and we can watch.”

Lena looks back at their daughters one more time before following Kara, holding her hand, squeezing it tighter when seeing the woman who sent those messages for them. Nia Nal. Another person from the future, this time from their own multiverse. Lena doesn’t know her well enough, but Nia does look like a good person. And she can see the way Kara and Nia already get along with each other. They'll clearly be good friends.

“Hey,” Kara calls softly, her voice somehow making the air lighter. “How is everything?”

“Astra is there already,” Alex answers, resting a hand on the back of Winn's chair. “She is just… watching him for now.”

Lena sees the man who hurt her daughter, who killed her in the future, leaning against a wall in a designed cell to hold a Kryptonian. His eyes are closed, but there is a smirk playing on his lips.

“Are you going to stay there,” he says in a mocking voice, “just watching me?”

Astra is with her arms crossed, a few feet away from him. “I’m trying to understand why you did all this. Did you plan to go after those girls since that day you came after me?”

He opens his eyes, tilting his head to one side, looking pleased with himself. “So you do remember giving me this scar.”

“I didn’t mean to, Non.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that you did,” he takes a step forward, eyes trained on Astra. “You did a pretty good job. Even here, with all the powers I have, I couldn’t heal. You marked me forever. That just proves my point that there is good and bad everywhere.”

Astra sighs. “Just answer my question.”

“Well, if you really want to know, my dear…”

“Don’t call me that.”

“… I didn’t know it was them,” Non shrugs, not really paying attention to Astra’s previous words. “I don’t know if that will make you feel better with yourself, but, the only thing I actually knew, was the myth.”

Astra frowns with curiosity on her expression, “What is it about?”

“About me,” Non puts his hands behind his back. “About the universe. It said a young girl could destroy me if she knew who I was. She'd destroy all my plans.”

“That's why you used the mask?”

“I wasn’t afraid of her, if that's what you asking,” Non follows Astra's every movement when she walks around the cell, watching him with the same intensity.

“Can you see what he's doing with his hands?” Kara asks a bit apprehensively, getting a tiny bit nervous when Winn types in a keyboard and show another angle of Non clearly just tapping his fingers in his wrist. “I don’t like this.”

“Your so precious baby would take something important from me,” Non keeps telling. “I could not let that happen.”

“What's so important to you?”

Non laughs. “You can’t possibly expect me to answer that.”

“He doesn’t know,” Nia says in a low voice as if she didn’t expect anyone to hear and she blushes a little when Kara turns to her.

“What do you mean?”

“That's why he's here, I guess,” Nia touches her wrist in a nervous gesture. “The last time I saw him, he was really angry. He found out about the switched DNA’s, but he thought the baby hadn’t even been born. He found out about El but he'd only know who the girl from the myth was if he'd look into her eyes.”

“The words he said,” Kara whispers, brushing a thumb on Lena’s skin as if it helps to calm herself down. “ _Her eyes will shine in the bright blue sky. The door will be closed and her spirit will guide._ ”

Nia nods, looking a bit paler. “That day, he knew it wasn’t El. He put her in some sort of a coma to make her suffer. He killed Lena to make you—”

“Go back in time,” Winn answers for her.

Nia nods again. “And to reveal yourselves.”

“But Lyra already knew that,” Lena says, frowning. “Alex from the future told her that.”

“That’s what I'm trying to understand,” Nia frowns and steps closer to watch the screen. “I must be missing something…”

“You know, Astra,” Non says, his voice recalling their attention for a few seconds, “we do what we have to do.”

Nia’s brown eyes get wide.

“What?” Alex calls gently, stepping closer to her. “You okay? What is it?”

Nia shakes her head. “He must have another plan. He only says that when— He did all this for a reason. There's someone else. That's why—”

A frustrated sigh interrupts her and a new voice speaks up. “You’re certainly not fun, Nia.”

They all turn around to find a boy with a DEO uniform. A boy with black hair and green eyes. He's sitting on a chair, his feet spread out in front of him as if he's home.

“Kaz.”

His name is not familiar, but there's something in his face that is. He looks like someone Lena has definitely seen before, someone… She looks back at the screen, her heart stopping.

“Scared to see me?”

Nia does look scared. “How are you here?”

“You were meant to create me,” Kaz makes a mocking face… a very familiar… expression.

_Oh, no._

_No, no, no, no, no…_

“You should know.”

“Nia?” Kara calls nervously, a heavy question in her tone; a question that must be playing over and over in their heads.

_How— Didn’t Nia switch the DNA's? How is this boy—_

“He was the one meant to be born. My boss— He wanted to create him all along.”

“You thought you had tricked him,” the boy gets up from his chair and opens his arms. “But here I am, dear Nia. Look at me. Perfect as I could ever be. I should thank my little half-sister.”

Lena moves uncomfortably, making Kara hold her hand a bit tighter. “Does it mean you—”

Kaz looks at her, opening a devious smile. “Oh, hello, mother. You look… unpleased to see me. I know why, though. Oh, wait. We all know, don’t we? But _why_ do I look like him? _How_ am I here? Didn’t Nia switch the DNA's? Didn’t El _took_ my place? Wasn’t she born instead of me? Well, my dear friends, let me explain what my father did.” Kaz makes a show of clearing his throat, his hands motioning as if all this is a great story to be told. “Lieutenant Non came back in time to create me. Oh, you realized that already, right, Nia? Well, your boss went a few days further than dear Lyra did. He's a smart guy. But, you know, question of the year: _why_ didn’t he stop you from creating El? That's simple. Why do it quietly, if you can make a fuss out of it? Why let baby El go to oblivion if you could make her family suffer?”

A silence follows his revelation.

“You know, this myth…” Kaz keeps talking, the smirk always present on his lips. “A part of it will become true. It all ends today.”

“How did you get in here?” Alex asks, her arms crossed, her voice harsh.

“You seriously worried about that right now?”

She glares daggers at him, her expression closing a bit more. “ _Why_ are you here?”

“I thought that was clear,” Kaz frowns and tilts his head to one side. “I’m going to kill Lyra. But I'll kill El too. Baby El to be more clear.”

Lena's heart sinks. She had thought this was over. She had thought they were safe now.

Nia takes a step closer, her posture more confident. “Why, Kaz?”

“It’s my fate. You know I was born to protect my father.”

“You don’t have to kill them to do that,” she says softly. “You can change your fate.”

He shrugs. “It seems better to follow it. I might, you know, already have started.”

_No._

Lena can’t help but think about her daughters; especially baby El who is in a break room somewhere in the building with Eliza. She was supposed to be safe now that Non is arrested. But her own… son is trying to do that now.

This terribly feels like her own story with Lex.

“What did you do?”

Kaz puts his hands in his pockets. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

 

//

 

_“Lyra…”_

_The young girl opens her eyes again, finding her sister’s face roaming over hers. The first thing she notices is the ceiling behind her—her bedroom's ceiling. She is still in a homey place, but not on the beach near her grandmother’s house anymore. “Is this a dream?”_

_“Kind of,” El smiles softly. “I am with you in another place, talking, telling stories. Mostly about what we talk here. There's a connection between us, little one. This here, it's like we are talking normally.”_

_“So you remember what I talked about when you were…”_

_El nods. “I knew the moment you left my side.”_

_Lyra looks at the ceiling, narrowing her eyes a bit. “Are you going to tell me I have another thing to do?”_

_“You sound like your lazy side,” El pokes her ribs until Lyra is shifting with laughter. “I just want to talk. I want to ask you something.”_

_“Ask away.”_

_“How did you know you were the one to… stop Non?”_

_Lyra meets her eyes; green, soft ones. “I didn’t. I just realized that Non doesn’t have love inside him. I couldn’t stop thinking about aunt Astra's story about him… and yours as well.”_

_El frowns. “My stories?”_

_“About our mothers,” Lyra opens a smile. “You helped me to understand what love is. I could see it after the stories you told. I just couldn’t take him talking like that anymore. Love is the most precious thing a person can feel.”_

_There is a proud look on her sister's eyes though a sad touch to it as well. “Do you get why he still wants to kill us?”_

_Lyra hesitates a second to nod. “If it wasn’t for you, I'd never noticed that in him. Did he— Did he know it when he went after you?”_

_“Yes.” El takes a deep breath, shivering a bit. “He knew it wasn’t me when he looked into my eyes. But he knew— He knew I had something to do with it. That’s why he came back in time. If he kills me, the baby El, I will never meet you, little one. I won’t have these stories to tell.”_

_“But I still don’t understand how I'm supposed to destroy him.”_

_“You won’t.”_

_Lyra looks at her sister, completely confused. “What do you mean?”_

_“Non didn’t understand the myth,” El whispers as if afraid someone will hear. “You are not supposed to_ kill _him. You are supposed to take someone from him. You'll inspire someone, little one. His plans will come to an end when this person sees the light in your actions. To be honest, they probably already did.”_

_“Are you talking about aunt Astra?”_

_El shakes her head. “I can’t tell you, but you’ll find out in a moment. Just wake up now. The time is approaching.”_

_Lyra takes a deep breath, her chest aching a bit. “Will this end today?”_

_“It will.” El smiles, taking her hand and squeezing it gently. “This is our last mission, my beloved sister. We'll go home safely.”_

 

//

 

Lena is aware of the moment Kara starts to brush a thumb in her skin, drawing an _S_ as if to silently tell her they're together in this. They won’t give up easily. They've been through a lot these past few days to just… give up. They have each other, they’re together in this.

“But let me tell how it happened because I won’t have time to explain later,” Kaz says, taking his left hand out of his pocket, keeping it closed as if holding something. “I bet your tech guy will love this…”

“I don’t like when he calls me that,” Winn murmurs.

“… because he will love what this little bracelet here can do.” Kaz shakes his arm to draw their attention to the black piece that looks a lot like a wrist clock. “When I touched it, which happened thirty seconds ago, I sent a signal to my father. It doesn’t really matter how it works, and I doubt you even care, but it'll be a matter of seconds until he comes to this amazing family reunion.”

He opens such a big smile at the end of the sentence that, if it wasn’t for the cold look in his eyes, you'd think he was actually excited for it.

“You—”

“Astra, get out of there,” Alex utters, touching her ear discretely. “Non is not locked up.”

Kaz lets out a gasp and lifts one finger in a dramatic gesture. “Oh, look, wait. It's too late, agent Danvers. My father is on his way.”

Lena can’t help but look back at the screen, seeing Astra fighting with a black figure; both of them moving so fast they’re almost a blur. She looks at Kara, blue eyes looking back at her with understanding. The blond squeezes her hand as if to say she'll be right back but… Kaz doesn’t even let her move when he says in a whispered voice, “Look who I've got right here in my arms, Supergirl.”

Fear takes over Lena's entire body.

_No. This can’t be…_

“If it's not my beloved half-sister,” Kaz says with a fake enthusiastic voice. “You look so tiny, baby girl.”

Nia takes a step closer to him, her voice almost begging when she says, “Kaz, please, don’t do it. You can write your own fate.”

“I’m not here for pieces of advice.” Kaz looks up; his eyes with such anger, such hate, such… darkness, that it makes Nia stumble back. “Let me remind every single one of you that I have my mother's genes. I have evil Luthor genes.”

“Kaz, you—”

“If you're about to give me a speech,” he looks at Lena, narrowing his eyes at her, “let me stop you right there. You have _no_ right.”

Lena watches him with a touch of sadness in her eyes. She can’t help but think that all this could be different if she knew about him. He could be a part of her family as well; no matter who his other parent was. He has Lena's blood but she'd welcome him even if he didn’t.

They could be a family. All five of them. She can almost see how that would be—especially when baby El reaches a spot over his chest to hold a small pendant, playing distractedly with it. In other circumstances, this scene could be heartwarming.

“I’m sorry, Kaz.”

He shrugs. “I don’t need your apologies.”

There's a rush of wind in the room; their only announcement of Non's arrival. Astra is right behind, looking a bit defeated for letting him escape. She meets Kara and Lena's eyes with an apologetic look, soft words unspoken that make Kara a bit relaxed. Lena doesn’t quite understand it, but she imagines it must mean that Eliza is okay. Well, she hopes so.

“Enough chatting, Kaz,” Non says as he approaches the boy. “It’s time to end this. Do what you’re meant to.”

“You created me with only one purpose, father,” Kaz says, lifting his hand to touch baby El's in quite a gentle way. “You’ve told me how I needed to do this. You came up with this whole plan knowing no one would expect such a twisted ending. You're quite the genius.”

“I don’t want to hear your praises,” Non says with a harsh tone. “Do what I ordered you to.”

Lena's heart is beating fast. “Kaz, please.”

He ignores Lena. “You trusted me so blindly, father. You created me to be your little boy who'd do whatever you asked. You made me a Luthor so I could live on Earth and rule the world. Take my mom's power… make the world fear another Luthor. I'm just another piece in your plans.”

 _He called me mom,_ Lena thinks, frowning. _He doesn’t even call Non in such a fond way._

“Kaz.” Non warns through his teeth. “Kill the baby and let’s end this.”

“As you wish, my father.” Kaz bows slightly, his eyes connecting to Lena's in a short second; so short Lena's isn’t fully able to read it but yet so meaningful it makes Lena hold Kara's hand tighter, begging her to wait. They watch as he gently makes baby El let go of his necklace and meets her eyes with fondness. Anyone could bet his next words aren’t what Non wanted to hear. “Fly, my baby El. Show your powers.”

“Don’t you dare—”

A lot of things happen then.

Baby El starts to float, letting out a soft _Ka_ at the same time Non moves forward to take her, which only makes Kaz hold him by the throat and throw him to the ground. Any human wouldn’t survive that. The ground instantly cracks all around Non's body and the whole floor shakes with the impact.

“How dare you—”

Kaz doesn’t avert his eyes from the man as he says, “Let me tell you something. I'm a Luthor. I have my mother's genes. In case you don’t know what that means, I'll gladly explain to a dumbass like you.”

“Let go of me.” Non struggles in Kaz's hold, miserably failing to escape.

“My mother has lived the majority of her life alone,” Kaz says, making Lena pay attention to his every word; her heart beating faster. “She has grown up with terrible people that never saw how good she was, never saw her worth. Then, others questioned every decision she made just because she was a Luthor. But she's never been a bad person. No matter what people thought. She's always done good things. Do you know what that means, father? Do you? It means it doesn’t matter who your family is. It means _I_ am my own person, _I_ make my own decisions.”

Lena blinks back her tears, not really containing herself because Kaz's voice is just so fond.

“If it weren’t for me you wouldn’t be alive,” Non says through his teeth. “You’d never exist.”

Astra approaches them quietly, taking baby El and holding her safely in her arms. She comes closer to Kara and Lena, smiling softly at them. There is a look on her eyes as if she expected this to happen, but she just shrugs when Lena raises a questioning brow at her.

“Maybe I shouldn’t.” Kaz presses Non's head harder on the ground, more cracks appearing beside it. “Maybe you should've never created me. Maybe what Nia did was for the best. But no worries, father, I—”

“Kaz.”

Everybody but Non turns around towards the new voice. Lena sees Kaz's happy expression when finding Lyra and El entering the conference room. “You’re alive.”

“Thanks to you,” Lyra says weakly, leaning a bit on her sister. “El told me what you did. You saved me.”

“You _what_?” Non asks furiously, managing to move a tiny bit under Kaz's hold. “I didn’t go through all this for you to betray me, Kaz.”

“Shut up,” the boy holds him tighter, making Non let out a struggled sound. “I don’t belong to you. I do whatever I want with my life.”

“Kaz, this is over,” Lyra whispers, looking a bit pale. “It’s not worth to kill him.”

The boy hesitates for a second before shaking his head. His voice is quiet, sad, when he says, “It’s too late for that. In a matter of minutes, there won’t be a drop of blood left that came from him.”

_What?_

Lena takes a step forward, her heart sinking. “Kaz—”

“What the hell did you do?”

Non looks scared for the very first time since Lena met him. And Kaz, again, just looks sad.

“You know, this is the first time you've been concerned about me, father.”

“What the hell did you do, you messed up boy?”

If it's possible, Kaz presses Non head even more. “I'm only messed up because of you. But haven’t you wondered why you're so weak, father? I'm strong, but not like this.”

Non narrows his eyes. “Kryptonite.”

“I might have installed some little device in your suit,” Kaz says nonchalantly. “It has been slowly inserting a small amount of Kryptonite in your system since you came to this room.”

Lena watches as the boy lowers this head; watches, with her heart in her hands, as he hesitates. She doesn’t quite believe his next words.

“It might be slowly adding to mine, too.”

She doesn’t want to believe it. She wants to talk to him; to know more about everything. She doesn’t want to lose him when she barely had him.

She feels Kara getting closer, looking as broken as Lena feels.

“You’re sacrificing yourself for them?”

“I should’ve never been born. I can’t let you try to infect me again in any form. This is for the better.”

Lena can’t help but remember Lyra's words when telling the story of what happened before she left. _It could change our world for better or for worse._ But remember it doesn’t mean it's any easier to accept it.

“You could’ve been a good man if you weren’t so blind to have power over others. That's not how life works, Non.”

“If I could, I'd kill you myself.”

“I know you would,” Kaz smiles sadly. “But the Kryptonite is reaching your heart now. I'm sorry I had to do this.”

Non lets out a short gasp, his body weakening until it stops fighting.

“May Rao's light guide you… father.”

Kaz finally lets go of the man, taking a step back but stumbling to the floor quickly. Lyra says his name, floating towards him. “Why did you poison yourself? Let us save you.”

Kaz shakes his head, lowering himself on the floor. “We do what we have to do, my dear sister. It's too late. Can I see— Mom?”

Lena feels Kara still brushing her skin, her hand getting loose in case Lena wants to let go. But the brunette holds it tighter as she walks over them, over her son. “I’m here.”

“I still have some stuff to explain,” he says weakly, forcing the words to come out. “I need you to know why I did everything I did.”

Lena nods, blinking away her tears. “I’m listening.”

“I’ve already said that Non came back in time to make sure I would exist but I— I didn’t understand why he wanted me to kill Lyra. _He_ was the bad guy. But I didn’t— I couldn’t see a reason to all of this, so I decided to meet El first. I came back in time, and so did Lyra,” he pauses for a second, meeting his younger half-sister's eyes, opening a smile at her. Then, he looks over at Kara, kneeling right beside Lena. “You heard me that night. Before you had the nightmare.”

Kara tilts her head to the side. “It was you?”

Kaz nods, a smile still on his lips. “I wanted to meet you all. My mother's family.”

“You can make part of it as well,” Kara whispers softly. “Let us help to take the Kryptonite out of your system.”

Kaz shakes his head, determination clear on his face. “I don’t want to cause any problems in the future. I've decided to do this for a while now. I'm in peace with myself. I just— We do what we got to do to protect the ones we love, right?”

Lena reaches to hold his hand, noticing how Kaz holds it for dear life. “We do.”

“Lyra inspired me,” he confesses, looking at the girl in question with a fond expression. “You were really brave to go after Non without knowing what you were supposed to do. But you do understand now, don’t you?”

Lyra nods. “El and I understand it all. Non misunderstood the myth. We all had a mission in this.”

Kaz nods, looking a bit sad again.

“Will we meet again?” Lena asks, wanting to take that look out of his face. “In the future somehow?”

“No,” Kaz opens a small smile as if to reassure them. “It’s okay, though. I got to live a few minutes with you and your family. I'm really sorry the beginning wasn’t nice. I had to make sure Non would think I was on his side.”

“You were very brave, Kaz.”

“You inspired me,” he utters, frowning as his eyes fill with tears. “So, after all I did, am I a bad person?”

Lena opens a fond smile, brushing her thumb in his skin. “You never were, honey.”

“You never did anything bad, Kaz,” Lyra says, reinforcing Lena's words. “Since you came back in time, all you did was help us. If it wasn’t for you, for El, I’d be dead by now. You saved us.”

The corners of his mouth curl up in a smile even as he takes a deep, shaky breath. “I found myself loving every single one of you right at the beginning. It was what made me travel somewhere to make sure mom will be alive in the future.”

Lena's chest ache a bit. “I’ll always be grateful for what you did. And I’ll never forget you, my boy.”

“None of us will,” Kara says softly, a grateful smile on her lips. “You'll be remembered as the hero you've always been, Kaz.”

His smile gets wider, happier. He looks again at everyone in the room, and Lena knows this is his last moment. She leans in to leave a soft kiss on his forehead seconds before he whispers, “Be happy, guys.”

She feels the second life leaves his body, his hand no longer holding tight on hers.

A tear rolls down her cheek as she hears Kara, Lyra, El, and Astra whisper in a soft voice, “May Rao's light guide you, Kaz.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might be super nervous to release this chapter but I'm also excited, so that's why I've released it a week earlier than I planned.
> 
> But I do hope you liked it, guys. If you didn't, I'm deeply sorry for wasting your time. Either way, I do appreciate that you read it.
> 
> I'll hopefully see you on the last chapter.
> 
> Thank you for everything. x


	9. Saying goodbye

The sun has just begun rising in National City, the soft colors painting the horizon, when they say their last goodbyes to Kaz.

They get a bit emotional, unable to hold back the tears when El makes a speech. Her voice is heavy with fondness as she explains how Kaz came to her and helped to save Lyra. “He risked all this to save her. He was afraid Non would hear him but, either way, he came after me. He explained what I had to do to help Lyra. I didn’t know if I could trust him, but I noticed we had the same eye color. I said it out loud, and Kaz answered with a smile, 'We have the same mother, my dear Eleanor.’ I guess I knew it, then. What a brave person you would be, Kaz.”

Yeah… it is really impossible not to cry after that.

“You saved us,” El continues with a broken voice, gratefully holding Lyra's hand when the younger girl offers it. “I don’t know how to thank you enough, Kaz. I wish the end was different but I know you had already accepted this. I know you didn’t want to risk it and make it any worse.”

Lena rests her head on Kara's shoulder, tears falling silently from her eyes. Her heartbeat is soft, sad, making the blond instantly wrap an arm around her; her hand gently drifting up and down her skin.

“You might have thought you were alone but… you have a family now. You've always had. I’m super proud to call you my brother, Kaz.” El opens a sad smile. “You'll be terribly missed but you’ll always be in our hearts.”

Winn sniffs somewhere behind Kara, letting out a low, “Oh, boy,” because that's when a few agents take Kaz away.

Everyone watches silently; the room all but quiet if it wasn’t for the low sniffs sounding here and there. But no one is able to hold back a sad smile when baby El waves at the boy and calls his name in that adorable, “Ka.”

Kaz Luthor, the bravest boy who deserved way more than what he got. He deserved better—a family, a happy life, people who supported him and made him feel loved. Kaz had been a good person, he'd been an inspiring hero who was willing to let himself be hated to do the right thing. An amazing boy like that should always be remembered by his family—and he will.

It's a bit hard to say for how long the room is quiet like that until someone moves, returning to the present moment to do whatever it is that requires their attention. Then, everyone else starts to move, soft conversations here and there once again.

But the only thing that requires National City's superhero's attention for the moment is the woman still in her arms. Kara kisses the top of Lena's head, her voice soft when asking, “You want to go somewhere for a while?”

Lena nods, moving her hand to hold Kara's outstretched one. “Yeah.”

Kara guides Lena to a private space, meeting Alex’s soft gaze on the way. _I'll take care of the girls_ , her sister mouths with no sound, opening a smile when Kara thanks her. The blond also notices Eliza moving to talk to the girls, clearly not hurt but still a bit shaken up with what happened. But… seeing them so supportive, so open to Kara's new life, makes the blond really feel blessed to have such an amazing family.

“This is my favorite spot here,” Lena whispers when they step in a balcony—a perfect quiet place where they can watch the sunrise, feel the morning breeze and listen to the birds. It's a scenario pretty similar to that first morning, after Kara went back to Midvale and talked to Alex about her fears.

“I like here, too,” she whispers in a low voice.

Lena steps into her personal space; her bright green eyes calling Kara's attention. “What are you thinking about?”

“That first night,” Kara answers, wrapping her arms loosely around Lena. “I’m remembering how it felt like that dream I had was a warning and— I did hear a sound before falling asleep. If I knew it was Kaz, I'd have searched harder to find him.”

Lena reaches for a blond curl to play with it. “He didn’t want to be found, though.”

“Yeah…” Kara nods, lowering her head. “I think he also didn’t want to change the events too much. Going back in time— It's a huge risk. Maybe that's why he doesn’t want us to do it to save him. It could change what he did. For better or for worse.”

Lena rests her forehead on Kara's shoulder, her hand right above Kara's heart. “I think I'd want the same… if it was with me.”

“I'd want it, too.” Kara moves her hand to stroke Lena's raven hair in gentle movements. “You know, maybe now that we know about him, we can— I know he said we wouldn’t see him again, but maybe we will. Maybe he can still be with us one day.”

Lena hides her face on the crook of Kara's neck. “Do you really think so?”

“We can hope, right?”

“Yeah,” Lena agrees with a smile. She stays quiet for a moment before saying, “Thank you for making me feel better.”

“I’m always here for you.”

A comforting silence sets upon them as they watch the sun rising over the city. It's quite an incredible thing to notice that, sometimes, words are not needed when you're trying to comfort someone you care about. Sometimes, just being by their side, in whatever form, is already enough. It's a simple yet meaningful way to show people they are not alone; to show people you care about them—even if you don’t actually know what to say.

“Someone is coming,” Kara whispers gently, not letting go of Lena yet. “I wanted to stay like this for a little longer, but it seems like they have to get back to the future.”

Lena frowns, stepping back a bit. “Already?”

“It seems that they can’t stay too much.” Kara reaches for a raven strand that falls over Lena's face, putting it behind her ear. “I don’t think I'm ready to say goodbye to them, but—”

“Hey,” Nia calls hesitantly, looking at them with an apologetic expression. “I’m sorry to interrupt but… we have to head back.”

Kara opens a sad, understanding smile. “I— Can I ask you something?”

Nia looks a bit nervous with the question but nods anyway.

“You knew about Lyra all along, didn’t you?

The woman takes a moment to nod slowly. “I did. I— I knew El had an important part in it as well. If it wasn’t for you guys, she'd never had good stories to tell Lyra. Those memories she created with you… they are truly inspiring. Not just for the girls, but for anyone who knows it. I— I did not know about Kaz, though. I’m really sorry for your lost. I wish I could have helped more.”

“You did everything you could,” Lena says gently, a soft smile on her lips. “You’re part of our team now. You've taken care of El before she came to us. We'll forever be grateful.”

Nia matches Lena's smile, her heart beating a little faster with their reactions. “Thank you, guys. It means a lot to me.”

“Will you be with us in the future?”

“If you don’t mind it, I will.”

Kara approaches her, throwing an arm around her shoulders in a friendly way. “Well, just like Lena said, you're part of the family. It'll be our pleasure to have you in our lives.”

The woman blushes a little, but there's a smile playing in her lips. When they are back in the conference room, Nia goes straight to where the girls are, reaching for El's blond hair in a gentle, motherly way to play with it shyly. The girl notices it and asks what happened, but Nia just shrugs it off. It's really nice to see the way they’re interacting, and Kara cannot help but think how incredible it will be to have such a wonderful new person in their circle of friends.

“I like her,” Lena whispers in Kara's ear, voicing her thoughts as if she could read it on Kara's face. “We might have lost Kaz, but now we have Nia.”

The blond opens a smile, leaning in to leave a gentle kiss on Lena's cheek. She turns around when hearing a cute baby's voice excitedly saying a simple, “Mama.”

“My baby girl,” she greets, stretching her arms as an offer to hold her, which the baby accepts happily.

“You know,” Astra starts with a fond smile, “in a few days she will definitely be speaking full sentences.”

“I wouldn’t go that far, aunt Astra.”

The older woman just shrugs. “Well, she’s a smart girl. I don’t doubt she would be able to.”

Kara looks down at her baby, watching with a deep emotion as she plays with Lena’s fingers. “Yeah… I don’t doubt either.”

“Are you guys ready to take care of her?”

“I’m kind of freaking out, honestly.”

“Eliza will give us a few tips,” Lena says, poking at Kara's ribs playfully. “But I don’t feel like it'll be that difficult. Baby El is a good girl.”

Alex approaches them and already teases when saying in an almost whisper, “Wait until she starts to talk.”

“You can help whenever you want, Alex,” Lena says back, raising an eyebrow at the agent. “I know you are crazy to spend some time with her.”

“Yeah,” Alex shrugs with no shame. “I want to have a good bond with my beautiful niece.”

Astra is smiling fondly at them when she says in a low voice only Kara is able to listen, “I kind of missed this.”

Kara feels her eyes burning with tears even before they blur her vision. “How can I thank you, aunt Astra, for everything that you did?”

The woman touches her arm in that motherly way that only makes Kara's heart ache. “You don’t have to, my niece. That's what family is for.”

“I can’t wait to have you back in our lives.”

“Me neither,” Astra squeezes her arm gently. “I need to tell you something before we go. I couldn’t tell you before but, now that is over, I can say that Kaz helped me to come here. He left me a letter explaining a few things of what would probably happen. I didn’t know who he was but, when I saw the boy in the conference room, I assumed. I wish he could be here with us… I'm truly sorry for your lost.”

Lena offers her a hand, not hesitating when Astra actually steps forward to give her a hug. “Thank you for everything, Astra.”

The older woman seems unable to hold back a few tears that appear in her eyes. “Thank you for welcoming me when I showed up.”

“That’s what family do.”

Astra pulls back, smiling at her before meeting Kara's gaze. “I really like her, Kara. You hold on to her, okay? You don’t find good people like her all the time.”

Kara might blush a lot with those words. “I— Well— I know. I’m— Why did you have to say that? I feel like everyone is watching me.”

Lena tries to hold back her smile by pressing her lips together but it is really impossible to hide those cute dimples that melt Kara's heart.

Alex laughs fondly at her but she turns to Astra to say in another whisper, “You can say things like that all you want, Astra. It's funny to see Kara like that.”

The blond rolls her eyes but can’t help to open a smile. “I will miss you, aunt Astra.”

Astra winks at her, looking half apologetic as moving to give her a tight hug. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Even before they let go of each other, Lyra and El already approach them for their goodbyes. If with Astra was hard, Kara can’t imagine how it will be with her daughters. And she knows it's going to be difficult when she already starts to cry uncontrollably.

“ _Mom_ ,” El calls softly, enveloping her in a tight hug. “It’s okay. We're not actually leaving you. We're going to meet you back in the future in a few moments.”

“But it's just as hard,” Kara whispers, trying to take a deep breath to control herself. “I wish we could have spent happier times together. I will terribly miss you.”

“We’ll be together in two years,” Lyra says, clearly biting the inside of her cheek to control her unshed tears. “I’ll join you in two years.”

“It’ll be the longest two years of our lives,” Lena says a bit sadly. “But we'll make you the happiest girls in the whole world.”

Lyra’s blue eyes shine in an exciting way. “Can you give me a trip to Disneyland when I turn ten? And maybe a new tablet for me to keep my drawings?”

El playfully messes her hair. “That’s not what she meant.”

“I can dream, though.”

Lena laughs softly, opening her arms to hug them. “I promise I'll do it. Anything to make you happy.”

“Anything?” El asks with a raised eyebrow, seeming to think for a second before deciding on saying, “Could you sometimes take me to your lab so I can help with your projects?”

“Only if they’re not dangerous.”

The girl shrugs, looking incredibly content with herself. “I can work with that.”

Lena opens such a beautiful smile with those words that it does absolutely nothing to help Kara with her situation of letting these two incredible girls leave. But, then, the woman is letting out a soft exclamation before taking a step back to return her engagement ring to Lyra. “Could not forget about this. Thank you for letting me use it for a while. It was truly a pleasure.”

The younger girl smiles widely at her. “It won’t take long for mom to give it back to you in this timeline. Hopefully, I mean.”

“Yeah,” El joins it, matching her sister's smile as Alex snorts behind them. “She will hopefully not freeze when the time comes.”

Kara gasps, feigning offense. “I would never freeze to ask Lena to marry me.”

“Yeah, that's definitely what you say all the time, even if it _actually_ happened.”

Kara can’t help but let out a laugh; a genuine sound that burns her chest and makes her cry a second later with this interaction. “You guys are making it easier to let you leave.”

El smiles fondly at her. “I’m sure you mean it's _harder_ to let us leave.”

Kara winks at her. “Maybe.”

And, then, way too fast for any of them to process, they are already a second away from stepping into a portal that will take them back to their timeline—to a life filled with promises of better days, to a family never meant to be separated by a mean plan.

As El and Lyra look back one last time, Kara feels Lena's lips touching her ear to say, “We’ll be very lucky to have them.”

Kara can’t help herself to open a wide smile as baby El waves back at those amazing people. “I feel like we already are.”

 

//

 

They stay at the DEO for five minutes longer until J'onn tells them to go home and rest for the day. No one really argues with him, so that's how Kara, baby El, and Lena end up back in the penthouse. But, as soon as Lena steps inside, it feels like there’s something different there. Not, like, ‘a book out of its place' kind of way. It's… This is the place where it all began. It's the place where Kara called Lena after an awful dream; where National City’s superhero revealed herself for a new friend.

But that's not it.

It’s a feeling Lena can’t quite place. Not until she wakes up after a wonderful nine hours of sleep, in the middle of a Sunday afternoon, with Kara and baby El sleeping just beside her. The scene warms her heart, and one word pops up in her head: _home_.

Those two people make the place feel cozier, warmer. They make it feel like home.

 _Home_ , like they say, _it's not a place but a feeling._

Lena can’t help to open a smile. She'd always… felt like she was looking for something in her life. Especially towards the end of the year, for some reason. And it was like something was missing. Something that always felt far away.

But, now, it's here. Now, Lena understands it.

She cannot imagine how her life would be if a certain blond woman had never shown up in her life. Well, I mean… She _can_ , but it is such a sad life, such a hurtful scenario. Lena is happy right now, so why put herself into thinking of a day when Kara Danvers might leave her? She might not, honestly, and that makes… It makes Lena feel so damn lucky to have her.

“I promise to never take you for granted,” she whispers, unable to contain herself. Her voice, even barely audible, is heavy with such a deep amount of love she can’t not open a smile. “I really do love you, Kar.”

Baby El moves on the bed close to her, a sigh escaping her mouth as she sleeps between their bodies. Her cute little hand wraps Lena's forefinger in an unconscious yet cute way that melts Lena's heart.

“I love too, baby girl.”

“I could wake up like this every single day of my life,” Kara whispers in a sleepy voice, a sigh escaping her mouth as she moves a thumb up Lena’s ribs. If she's trying to calm Lena's heart, she is totally doing the opposite. “I could also fall asleep with you close to me every time.”

Lena lets out a low groan and hides her face in a pillow. “Did you hear what I said?”

“Well, I felt you staring at me for the past five minutes,” Kara answers with an audible smile in her lips. “You have a piercing gaze, Lena. I could've probably felt it if I was on the other side of the city.”

Lena feels her neck growing incredibly hot with those words. “Stop it.”

Kara moves carefully closer, her lips touching Lena's shoulder gently. “I promise not to take you for granted either.”

“You did hear it.”

“I love you, too.”

Lena opens a smile, moving her head to look at her friend. Her heart might almost stop with the brightness of those ocean blue eyes, so clear with love. “You’re really beautiful,” she whispers, unable to not reach forward to pull a blond strand away from Kara's face.

The blond moves her hand slowly on Lena's bare back, blinking as if lost in a moment in her head. “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“For how long did you know I was Supergirl?”

Lena holds a blond curl carefully in her finger. “For a while. I wasn’t too sure in the beginning but I figured it out.”

Kara opens a small smile. “I guess I'm not that good at hiding it.”

“Yeah, you’re not.”

“I'm sorry I didn’t tell you before,” Kara closes her eyes for a second when Lena reaches to caress the back of her neck. “I wanted to tell you but— It wasn’t because I didn’t trust you. I do trust you with my life. I just— I was afraid of how you would react.”

“It’s okay, I understand,” Lena whispers softly. “You don’t have to explain it to me, but… Kar, that doesn’t change the way I feel about you. I honestly just fell for you a little bit more. You are the same Kara I was in love with yesterday. The same Kara I'll be in love with tomorrow.”

Kara's eyes search Lena's face in that intense gaze only someone like her is able to. The only person who looks at Lena like that and makes her heart race in an incredible way. “Lena…”

“I’m honored I've got the change to know new details about you. I'm honored you trust me to be yourself, Kara Zor-El.”

Kara opens a smile. “I've always trusted you.”

“I know.” Lena caresses her cheek. “I— I really don’t know what I did to deserve you but I— I honestly don’t know how I was not supposed to fall in love with you when I found out you're Supergirl. You make my heart beat faster. I— I fall in love with you a little bit more every day. You— You're my family, Kar. My home.”

The blond visibly breathes out slowly as her eyes look down at Lena's mouth—and that is the only warning Lena gets before Kara leans in to capture her lips in a slow yet passionate kiss. It feels like she is saying _I love you, I love you, I love you_ over and over and over again.

“You’re one of the best things that happened to me on Earth,” Kara whispers in her mouth. “You and Alex are the only ones I feel like I can be myself with. But it's different with you. I— I feel like saying 'I love you’ isn’t enough but I love you so much, Lena. _So much_.”

The brunette brushes their lips together. “Is it weird if I ask how Alex is with all this?”

“Of course not,” Kara smiles. “She’s actually fine. I promised to have a sister night later this week so we can hang out and talk. It feels like it's been a month since we did that.”

“Yeah, I bet no one expected the events of this weekend.”

“Um, well.” Kara blushes a little, looking down at baby El to avoid meeting Lena's gaze. “I kind of hoped for one thing to happen. I— It turned out better in some… ways.”

Lena has no control over her raced heartbeats. But then, baby El moves beside her to get to a sitting position, stretching a small pendant of a spaceship to Kara. “Wait. Is that—”

El opens a baby grin, stopping Lena’s heart when she says in an exciting way, “Ka.”

“It's his necklace,” Kara says, studying the new object until she reveals that it is a… flash drive. “Oh, Rao.”

“Do you think he left a message?”

Kara shrugs, meeting Lena’s eyes with a quiet question. “Do you want to check it right now?”

Lena swallows nervously but nods; her heart pounding in her chest. She watches as Kara moves to take a laptop, inserting the object to reveal two files: a video and a picture, named in the order they are supposed to open.

“You ready?” Kara asks, moving closer to wrap an arm around Lena's waist. She waits for the woman to nod to click on the video.

It opens with an image of Kaz’s face taking the whole screen as he sets the camera up. “Okay, perfect,” he whispers to himself, taking a step back to sit on a chair that looks a lot like one of those in the DEO. “I don’t know why I'm this nervous, but, well…”

Kara pauses the video for a second, pointing at the date on the corner of the screen. “It’s from two days ago. August, nineteenth.”

“When it all started,” Lena whispers, breathing heavily. “He looks… different. Almost like he's really being himself.”

Kara nods, resting her head on Lena's to watch the boy taking a deep breath before waving at the camera with a bright smile. “Hey, guys. If you're watching this, then I'm probably gone. I guess baby El has also given you my pendant, which it’s something she seems to adore right now.”

He opens a shy smile and looks at his fidgeting hands, hesitanting a few moments to continue.

“Well, I— I don’t have much to say, actually. I hope I was able to explain everything while I was still there but—” he shrugs, lifting one of his hands to run it in his hair. “I guess I wanted you to have a little something that could help you to remember me. I heard once that one of the first things you forget about someone is their voices, so… I don’t know. Maybe this is a good thing to leave behind.”

Kaz looks so sad, so lost, so… alone. It breaks Lena's heart to see him like that.

“I don’t want you to be sad that I'm gone,” Kaz whispers, opening a small smile before looking at the camera. “It’s kind of like Supergirl says. I will be up, up and away with the stars, flying around with the comets. I'll be free and happy, and maybe— Maybe you will remember me as you watch the stars. Maybe, when you see a comet passing by, it will be me saying hello.”

Lena bites her bottom lip to stop a few tears from blurring her vision. She reaches to rub a hand on El’s back when the baby pouts a little and climbs on her lap to sit there.

“Maybe, my beautiful family, we will see each other again far away in the future. Maybe we'll be able to play in the sky and… we'll be able to stay together like a family. All five of us, like it could have happened.” Kaz doesn’t try to hide his tears when he dries them with the back of his hands, never failing to smile in a fond way. “Until then, though, I'm leaving you with a gift I took in the future. It's a family photo I've put in this flash drive, which you'll hopefully see in a minute. I hope it makes you open a smile. It's from one of my favorite days ever. Oh, um, I have to go now. Take care, guys. I love you.”

He approaches the camera again to turn it off, the screen fading away with the last image of his smile—a beautiful, happy one.

It shows the genuine happiness of that boy. It shows what they could have had if he would still be alive to truly enjoy his favorite day.

It's a smile none of them will ever forget. Not with it forever captured in the picture of what looks like a family holiday trip. It's quite hard not to feel heartwarming when looking at it.

It's one of those pictures that captures a genuine moment of a family. A picture with Kaz in the front, smiling and making a _V_ sign with his left hand while El and Lyra are a few feet behind, talking and eating ice creams, and Kara and Lena are walking side by side with a clear expression of pure happiness as holding each other's hand.

“Oh, this is in Midvale,” Kara says with a fond, surprised smile, pointing at a sign of a small store on the corner that has the words _Misses Santiago’s Ice Creams_ written all over it. “I did take you there, after all.”

Lena lets out a soft, watery laugh as she leans in to leave a kiss on Kara's neck. “It’s a really beautiful picture.”

“Yeah,” Kara nods, rubbing her hand on Lena's arm. “He seems to have had a personality of a funny big brother.”

“He did,” Lena agrees, looking at baby El who is now distractedly playing with her necklace. “I guess he would be a protective big brother for the girls.”

“Absolutely.”

They look at the picture for a little longer, talking in soft voices about how they imagine their lives would be with all five of them. It makes things hurt a little less, even if it's just stories that could never actually happen. But it's still a possibility. If not… Well, at least, if Kaz is able to listen to them right now, maybe it's making him open a happy smile.

And that picture… It doesn’t take long for it to join Lena's growing place of memories—a little space in the living room with framed pictures taken on different occasions, mostly with Kara. It's actually something Lena would never do if it wasn’t for the blond, but she can’t deny that they warm her heart and make her open a smile.

And, well, Kaz has just added a beautiful new picture to it. A perfect family moment that, who knows, might actually happen someday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys. :)
> 
> I hope you liked this last chapter. As usual, I'd love to know your thoughts on it if you feel comfortable to tell me.
> 
> But, you know, I cannot leave without saying that it's been a pleasure for me to write this entire fanfic for such lovely readers like you. You're all amazing people who gave me the strength I needed to keep writing. I seriously don't know how to thank you, but, if I could, I'd give you a really tight hug.
> 
> I'll hopefully be back next month with a new Supercorp fanfic. But, until then, I wish all the best to you, my loves. Have a wonderful day/ night.
> 
> Take care. x


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